Rail suicide

Rail suicide is deliberate self-harm resulting in death by means of a moving railway vehicle.[1] The 2023 ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for attempted rail suicide is X81.1.[2][3] The suicide occurs when an approaching train hits a suicidal pedestrian jumping, lying, or wandering on the tracks.[4] Low friction on the tracks makes it impossible for the train to stop quickly enough. This type of suicide may cause trauma to the train driver.[5]

Suicide
Social aspects
Crisis
Types
Epidemiology
History
In warfare
Related phenomena
By country
Organizations

Types, behavior and delimitation

Touching an electrified rail is sometimes mentioned as a rail suicide additionally to the three patterns: jumping in front of a train, lying on the tracks, and wandering onto the tracks.[6] Lying on the tracks includes suicide by train decapitation as well as hara kiri by train.[7] In suicide by train decapitation, victims lie on the tracks in front of approaching trains, with the neck placed on a rail and run over by a train wheel;[8] in hara kiri, the train wheel runs over the abdomen.[7] In addition to individual suicides, joint suicides on railways have also been reported.[9][10] A railway suicide can also be committed by a vehicle driver like for example the Ufton Nervet rail crash, which can result in additional casualties among vehicle and train passengers.[11][12]

Railway-related suicides are rarely impulsive, and this view has led to research on behaviour analysis using CCTV at known hotspots.[13] Some behaviour patterns are implicated such as station-hopping, platform switching, standing away from others, letting a number of trains go by, and standing close to where trains enter. Surveillance cameras are viewable by railway staff.[13]

Difference to trespasser fatality

A collision with a suicidal pedestrian is different from a collision with an unauthorised person, a trespasser, who has illegally entered the tracks, and can be distinguished, according to the European Union Agency for Railways, by the presence of suicidal intent.[12] Suicide note, clear statements to an informant, demonstrated behaviour, previous suicide attempts, prolonged depression and psychological instability are mentioned as criteria for categorizing a suicidal intent.[12]

Consequences
Lime on rails after a suicide in Mainz-Laubenheim

In view of the high rate of failed rail suicides (one-tenth[14] to one-third[15]), rail suicide is considered unsafe.[14] The survivors often continue to live with severed limbs.[15] As of 2014, the delay of the train caused by a rail suicide can extend from 30 minutes in Japan[16] to 2 hours in most European countries.[17][5]

Even if the suicide situation is recognized at an early stage, the train driver is hardly in a position to prevent the rail suicide due to the long braking distance and the lack of evasive action.[18] Even if the train driver closes their eyes, they can still feel the impact of the collision.[19] This results in a heavy psychological burden for the driver, which can lead to years of impairment.[20]

Additionally to the train driver, a rail suicide can traumatize a bigger number of bystanders who witness the body.[21] In case of driverless trains, a witnessing passenger presses the emergency button to stop the train.[22]

In some cases, a collision with a pedestrian is not noticed by train driver and the train continues to travel to the next station with human remains still visible at its front.[23][24] In such cases, the driver might be held accountable for violation of instruction and face consequences.[23][24]

Consequences in Germany

In Germany, rail suicide is a criminal offence.[25] In 2013, according to Deutsche Bahn, 30 train drivers lost their suitability for the job as a result of traumatic events.[26] The train drivers unsuitable for job due to witnessing a rail suicide are paid full salaries.[27]

Consequences in Japan
Police officers removing remaining debris following a suicide approximately an hour earlier on the down track at Kamifukuoka Station in Japan

Suicide by train is seen as a social problem, especially in the larger cities such as Tokyo or Nagoya, because it disrupts train schedules, damages equipment, harms the drivers,[5] and, if one occurs during the morning rush-hour, causes numerous commuters to arrive late for work. Family members or next-of-kin of the person who died by suicide are charged with the cost of rail disruption by most rail companies.[28][29] It has been argued this prevents possible suicide, as the person who is considering suicide would want to spare the family not only the trauma of a lost family member but also being sued in court.[30]

Epidemiology
See also: Epidemiology of suicide

Europe

Data gathered to 2014 showed that there were about 3,000 suicides and 800 trespass-related injuries on the European railways each year.[5]

ERA data for 2021[31]ATBEBGCHCZDEDKEEELESFIFRHRHUIEITLTLULVNLNOPLPTROSESISK
Rail suicides75881112716167819917135243191214132405186101383342832452
Rail suicide attempts1113112168922101419354450200009113515762
Unauthorized persons killed6511411643011022232714281520999544015
Unauthorized persons seriously injured907142839214701826018305112522308

Germany

As according to STABAG (German: Statistik der Bahnbetriebsunfälle und Gefährlichen Unregelmäßigkeiten) in the years 1991–2000, 8653 (91.0%) rail suicide cases were fatal from total of 9510 incidences occurred on the German railway net.[2] A fatal suicide meant a death within 30 days.[2] Fatal rail suicides were ca. 7% of all fatal suicides committed in Germany in this time period.[2] Of the 5731 suicidal acts in the time period 1997–2002, 66% occurred on open tracks and 34% in station areas.[32] The data of 4127 suicial acts from the time period 2002-2006 showed that 32.2% of subjects were jumping, 32.6% lying and 34.2% wandering.[4] Wandering included standing and lying on the tracks included suicide by train decapitation.[4] Jumping in front of the train had the highest chance of survival, while lying on the tracks most often resulted in death.[4] However, suicidal behavior is not always detectable post mortem.[4]

993 cases of total 4127 suicidal acts from the time period 2002-2006 were distributed as follow[4]
LocationJumping in front of the trainLying on the trackWandering along the track
open tracks (total 607)143231233
station (total 386)18096110

United Kingdom
See also: Suicide on the London Underground
ERA data for 2020[31]
Rail suicides251
Rail suicide attempts35
Unauthorized persons killed8
Unauthorized persons seriously injured2

Japan

In 1999, about 5% of total 33048 suicides in Japan were on train tracks.[29] Shin-Koiwa Station in Tokyo has a very high frequency of suicides.[33] There have been 13 incidents between 2011 and 2013 at this station.[33]

United States

The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration reports that there are 300 to 500 suicides by train each year.[34] The agency also reported that those suicides on railway rights-of-ways were by people who tended to live near railroad tracks, were less likely to have access to firearms, and were significantly compromised by both severe mental disorder and substance abuse.[35]

Prevention
A sign at a railway crossing in the Netherlands promoting a suicide crisis line (113)
A blue suicide prevention light at the end of the platform at Kasumigaseki Station in Japan

Avoiding Werther effect

Media reporting has been linked to increased rail suicide attempts due to Werther effect.[13] In Germany, the number of rail suicides grew significantly after the suicide of Robert Enke.[36]

Access restriction

Physical barriers reducing the number of tresspassers and suicides are barrier fences, intermediate fencing between tracks, anti-trespass panels and platform screen doors.[37] In Sweden, the number of suicides at stations could be reduced by 62.5% through mid-track fencing.[38] Sometimes vegetation along the tracks can obscure the view of the train driver and the removal of this is also advocated.[5] On the London Underground the presence of a platform drainage pit has been shown to halve the number of deaths from suicide attempts.[5] The pit increases the clearance between the train and the ground, probably allowing a casualty to fall away from the train's wheels.[39] In South Korea, platform screen doors reduced the number of suicides by 89%.[40]

CCTV cameras

CCTV cameras can be used to identify risk factors for suicide like certain behavior and face expression, to understand a suicide after an attempt for forensic needs, and to automatically intervene using computer vision.[41] In Australia, human-monitored CCTV was found to reduce the number of suicides in metro stations.[42] Computer vision enhanced CCTV sending alerts to staff are a matter of research.[43]

Blue light

In Japan, the use of calming blue lights on station platforms is estimated to have resulted in an 84 per cent reduction in suicide attempts.[44]

See also

References
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