Database of rail accidents released

A major new historical record of around 17,000 railway worker accidents in Britain and Ireland has been released to the public.

The records provide details of accidents involving rail staff from 1900-39, including who was involved, what they were doing on the network, what happened to them, and why.

It is the result of the Railway Work, Life and Death collaborative project between the University of Portsmouth, National Railway Museum, and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick.

Volunteer teams from the project transcribed and extracted details from original reports produced by the Railway Inspectorate.