In addition, the report covers safety investigations conducted over the past five years in order to provide an overview of the ESIB’s activities and the occurrences investigated over a longer period.
In 2025, 12 accidents and four incidents were notified to the ESIB. Eight of the accidents occurred at level crossings and three involved persons being struck by trains.
The most significant occurrence affecting railway safety during the year took place on 27 November 2025 at the Saku-Soo passive level crossing, where a passenger train collided with a dump truck. As a result of the collision, one person was killed and, according to the ESIB’s assessment, the damage caused amounted to at least 2 million euros. The occurrence was classified as a serious accident, and a safety investigation was initiated, which continued in 2026.
The Saku-Soo accident was the second serious railway accident during the period 2021–2025 for which the ESIB initiated a safety investigation. The previous such occurrence took place at the Ropka level crossing on 11 March 2022, and its safety investigation was completed in 2023. Due to the relatively small number of occurrences and safety investigations, the five-year data are not sufficient to identify a statistically reliable trend, but they provide an overview of the occurrences investigated and their characteristics.
No new safety recommendations were issued during the year. During the period 2021–2025, the ESIB issued a total of five railway safety recommendations, all as a result of a safety investigation completed in 2023. Four of these recommendations have been implemented and one was rejected. Safety recommendations issued as a result of the investigation into the Saku-Soo serious accident will be addressed in the 2026 Annual Report.
The purpose of a safety investigation is to learn from occurrences and to use the knowledge gained to prevent similar occurrences and improve railway safety. The role of the ESIB is not to apportion blame or liability, but to independently establish the causes of occurrences and the circumstances that contributed to them and, where appropriate, to make safety recommendations.
