According to the local public prosecution authorities’ transport department, 726 people were injured at Sverdlovsk Region Railways and South Ural Railways in 2007. This includes 405 fatal accidents. 185 people were injured in the first quarter of 2008, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier by 17%.

‘One of the reasons for non-industrial injuries is the failure of transport enterprises to take the necessary accident-preventive measures as well as the fact that they often maintain the platforms and the pedestrian crossings and decks very poorly. To make matters worse, guard rails and warning signs and posters are frequently missing and the alighting areas and the stations are badly lit,’ the authorities report.

Thirty-two recommendations to eliminate these violations were sent to the railway enterprises and their management (including heads of Sverdlovsk Region Railways and South Ural Railways). In addition, forty-five protests were issued against the unlawful legal acts and twenty-three administrative trials were initiated.

‘Should these transport enterprises fail to take the measures needed to ensure labor protection and the passengers’ safety, we’ll place our claims against them with the court,’ the spokesperson for the public prosecution authorities says.