Let’s be clear about railroad fatalities

USA TODAY’s story “Amtrak accidents hurt safety reputation, but railroad remains popular with Congress, riders” contained misleading information: “More than 35,000 people died in highway accidents in 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available, compared to 749 in railroad accidents, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.”

While factual, the 749 figure is misleading in this context because it is not representative of passenger fatalities. Railroad passenger fatalities are rare in the U.S. It is important to let the readers know that the 749 figure, as given in the article, is for all fatalities classified under “railroad” and includes freight trains, commuter trains and intercity passenger trains.

Moreover, of the 749 fatalities listed for railroad accidents, the vast majority are not on the train. The largest share, unfortunately, arise from fatalities that occur when people trespass on railroad property and are struck by trains while walking on tracks and bridges. The next largest share of fatalities are automobile occupants involved in collisions with trains at crossings, including some who drive into the side of a train. Passenger fatalities are a sliver of the total fatalities each year, and of the limited number of passenger fatalities, not all occur on Amtrak and many are due to causes other than train accidents.

When calling out Amtrak subsidies, subsidies to other modes should also be presented. Virtually all forms of passenger transportation are subsidized to various degrees. State and local governments also subsidize transportation, particularly highway transportation. While this discussion can get very involved and distilled into various comparisons that vary widely due to location and type of roadway or railway, highway transportation exacts a cost that is much higher than the fuel taxes and registration costs paid for by motor vehicles. Ron Hynes Nokesville, Va.

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