What is the safest mode of transport?

Answer 1

In a like-for-like comparison, in the UK, rail travel is the safest mode both per passenger-km and per passenger-hour.

Transport statistics come in different measures. The two main ones are killed or seriously injured per passenger kilometre, and killed or seriously injured per passenger hour.

The airlines like to report their statistics by passenger-km because airplanes are fast, which increases the ratio of distance per death. This improves their statistics.

The railways are often required to report deaths not only whilst on a train, but also from suicides on the tracks and other accidents, which is not comparable to the way in which this is reported for roads or for the airlines. This means it is usually difficult to compare all three. However, this has been done once or twice.

Air travel is the least safe mode of transport per passenger-hour, and it is the 2nd safest mode per passenger-km.