Comment by toomuchtodo
13 hours ago
Derailments are common is what the stats show. US derailments are largely property damage as they are freight centric, while in Europe, passenger deaths are higher due to more heavy passenger utilization. Derailment is hard to defend against.
No, they are not common. The numbers you've been given are completely wrong.
The GGP has quoted the derailments figure from the USA page, but the total accidents (including trespassers and level crossing accidents) for the EU.
The EU page they cite says there were 63 derailments in 2024.
A derailment in Europe tends to make the news even when there are no injuries.
This single accident has killed more train passengers in Spain than were killed in the whole EU in 2024 (16).