The Toll

U.S. railroads, straining under their backbreaking load of seven billion passenger-miles monthly, have driven their men and equipment close to the breaking point. Last week the Interstate Commerce Commission underlined the toll that the nation is paying.

In the first six months last year, train accidents were up 32% over the same period in 1942, to a new high point of 8,209. What is equally significant, those caused by breakdown of equipment were UP 39%, those caused by improper maintenance up 47%. The grand total for all classes of accidents: 28,857 people injured (2,429 passengers on trains, 21,835 em' ployes on duty, the rest trespassers, etc.), 2,349 killed (41 passengers on trains, 491 employes on duty, the remainder trespassers, etc.).

Although ICC praised the railroads for the job done, it also grimly warned: many accidents could have been avoided "if the urge to keep trains moving were not permitted to take precedence over safety."

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