Suicides rather than accidents are the principal cause of death on the nation’s railway lines over the past seven years, according to an official report by theInstituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes Terrestres.
The number of suicides in 2011, for example, was 42 compared to 14 individuals who died accidentally, often because they were walking in restricted or prohibited areas or ignoring warning signals.
The highest number of suicides annually occurred in 2009, when 69 people took their lives deliberately.
The report revealed that between 2004 and 2011, a total of 708 deaths by victims run down by trains was recorded, of which 368 were suicides.
