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Increase in rail accidents, around the world, is becoming worrisome these days, although it is still safer for one to travel by rail than by road. It is undeniable that in overland transport only the rail transport has the capacity to carry more goods and passengers than any other land transport. Therefore, the need to make our rail transport safer than before cannot be over-emphasized. However, here is the list of rail accidents around the world in the 1^st quarter of 2017: NOTE: each crash contains the date; the country where the accident occurred; the kind of accident e.g. (crash) and the number of people killed or injured in the accident.

1. January 4^{t h} in the US, Brooklyn(train crash): at least 103 people injured.
2. January 21st in Indian: Kuneru train derailment: at least 41 people killed and 68 people injured.
3. January 24^th in the US; A Front runner (collision): no one killed or injured.
4. February 14^th in Australia; A V/Line Velocity(collision and derailment): 2 people injured.
5. February 14^th in Luxembourg; (collision) 1 person killed and 2 people injured.
6. February 17^th in Saudi Arabia (derailment due to flooding) 18 injured.
7. February 18^th, in Belgium; Leuven derailment: 1 person killed and 27 people injured.
8. February 20^th in South Africa; (collision) 100 people injured.
9. February 21^st in the US; (derailment) 4 people injured.
10. February 28^th in UK; 2017 Liverpool Lime Street collapse
11. March 7^th in the US; (derailment) no one killed or injured.
12. March 7^th in the US; 2017 Biloxi train crash, 4 people killed.
13. March 10^th in the US; (derailment)
14. March 20^th in UK (derailment)
15. March 22^nd in Switzerland; (derailment), 6 people injured.
16. March 29^th in India (derailment), 25 people injured.

  Total no of people injured: 355; Total people killed: 47 Source: Wikipedia            

Rail accident is becoming worrisome these days; hardly will you see a week without occurrence of rail accidents in the world. As transport demand for rail is increasing day by day, so also there’s direct increase in rail operations or activities, hence you see trains moving in different directions on their track and since they share land with motorists and other road users e.g. cyclists, pedestrian etc, the risk of people being involved in rail accident becomes inevitable. For instance, in U.S. it was discovered that the train hits a person or a vehicle every 3 hours and this accident always causes serious injuries or deaths. Source: Beyond Our Rails. However, it is important to know that these accidents are consequences of human errors that deserve individual special attention because they are preventable accidents. To this end, here are the ways to prevent rail accidents: 1. Be careful because rail has no inbuilt capacity to stop for you like a vehicle. It takes not less than a mile or more for an average train traveling at 55 miles per hour to stop for you. 2. If your vehicle suddenly stops on a highway-rail crossing, probably due to mechanical fault or for any other reason, you should let everybody move out of the vehicle far away from the rail track, then you can call the emergency number you see near the crossing or you call the law enforcement. It is because the train cannot avoid any object on its track. 3. Do not use the rail track as a footpath with impunity; it is risky, it may cause you your life, the train movement on its track is unpredictable. 4. Do not dare the speed of a moving train it may be faster than the way it appears. 5. Do not cross immediately after a train; wait with patience to see if another train is not moving in another direction. 6. Do not ignore the safety warning. 7. Do not jump out of a moving train 8. Always have it in mind that the train can move at anytime on its track. 9. Do not stop your vehicle on the track; before you cross make sure there is enough space between your vehicle and the end of the track. 10. It does no harm to be safety conscious.

All over the world where rail transportation exists, the high demand for it cannot be denied. People like to travel by rail for both long and short distances within and outside the country. Rail transport is becoming more attractive and popular, mostly in Europe,North America and other parts of the world. Rail transport has been an effective means of transporting people and goods in their large number for over 10 decades. In some countries such as India, North America, U.S., Canada, Japan,China to mention but few, it will not take you a longer time before you see trains in their large numbers in operation moving large number of people and goods along thousands of miles in both urban and rural areas. One may wonder why many people like to travel by rail. In fact, in India, it will surprise you to see how many people patronize rail transport.It is a common sight in India to see many people in their large number hanging on the outside of the rail cars while hundreds of others sitting on top of rail cars, though this is not a good safety attitude in India yet.The question remains, why people like to travel by rail? Why do organizations these days also choose rail transport as a means of transporting their products? However, below are the notable reasons why people like to travel by rail:

1. It is economical:When you consider the long distance to be covered and the amount of goods to be carried, you will discover that rail transport is the right choice for you to use because it is cost-effective.Bulk freight rail transport has the capacity to pull the weight of over 10,000 tons of goods at a cheaper rate. As many organizations also look for ways to cut down transportation costs, hence, they use rail transport as a means to achieve this aim. Even governments in different countries also encourage their business owners to use rail transport for their products.

Some organizations that are into liquid and gas business also prefer to use rail transport because there are rail cars specially built to carry such products. People also like to travel by rail because it is much cheaper than to travel by air.

2. It accommodates more baggage:Rail transport allows passengers to carry more bags without stress. People come with their baggage without unnecessary limitations and if you are to pay for much luggage you carry, you pay still at a cheaper rate too.So, many people like to travel with their belongings by rail than by air.
3. It is less stressful: The stress a passenger needs to pass through before boarding a flight is enormous. This is not so in rail transport, you don’t need to have a stressful day before you can travel by rail.
4. Passengers enjoy fixed price: People also like to use rail transport because of its relatively stable fares. They already know the amount they are going to pay for their journey anytime, any day.
5. It is much more environmentally-friendly: the carbon emission from rail transport is not as dangerous as the one coming out ofan aircraft. This is also one of the reasons why the government will also encourage different organizations to use the rail transport for long-distance journeys for their products than to use trucks or trailers.
6. It reduces travel time: High speed train can reduce your travel time by half. In rail, you enjoy travel without unnecessary delay or traffic hold up.
7. Comfort and convenience: Trains these days are equipped with comfortable seats that can make you feel relaxed without disturbing anybody. You can move around during the journey to reduce the stress of sitting down in a particular seat for hours.Thisis not possible in road and air transport.
8. Free from traffic: People also like to travel by rail in order to avoid unnecessary delay on the journey.
9. Travelling by rail, you will enjoy knowing more cities.
10. People like to travel by rail because it is safer than road transport and the second safest mode of transport.

 

Rail transport is the one of the overland transport in the world that uses rail track built on ground for its operations. Since, it’s one of the land based transportation, hence, it becomes paramount importance for all road users to be conscious and cautious when approaching any rail track. In view of this, here are the simple safety tips you need to know on rail transportation:  

• Train has no specific time:

  Many road users such as motorists, cyclists etc. aren’t always conscious of the fact that freight trains don’t have schedule time and that it can be on operation anytime, anyplace and anywhere. Therefore, it’s high risk for any road user to approach highway-rail crossing anyhow without being safety conscious and cautious.  

• Train cannot stopped immediately:

  Although, a train has an emergency brake system, yet it can’t bring the train to an instant halt. In other words, the train has no kind of brake we have in motor vehicles that can bring a motor vehicle into an instant stoppage. So, don’t cross the rail track at will when the rail is fast approaching; it may be closer to you than how it really appears and more importantly, it does not have the capacity to stop for you like a car.  

• Train cannot diverge:

  It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for train operators to avoid or diverge for any object, vehicle or person on its track. Trains are designed to follow their track to a desired location or destination. It operates like one way traffic, so to say. No flexibility, therefore, like I noted earlier, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for train operators to avoid an unwanted collision on its tracks. Hence, be careful when approaching a highway-rail crossing.  

• Don’t misjudge the train by ignoring the warnings at the level crossing:

  Some level crossings are designed with safety warnings for all road users who intend to make use of the level crossing, but it’s worthy to note that some motorists and cyclists take such safety warnings for granted by misjudging the speed of a train. This may explain why some collision between a vehicle and a train occur occasionally, at the level crossing.  

• Don’t misjudging the speed of a train:

  Often times, most road users erroneously assume that a locomotive train travels at a slow speed; hence, you see many of them daring the speed of a train approaching level crossing even though they hear the sound of the train from afar. This poor safety attitude may also lead to a collision at the level crossing. Don’t use the rail tracks as your pedestrian facility: It baffles me whenever I see pedestrians who deliberately decide to use the rail track as their foot path to their desired destinations. In fact, you see some of them trekking a reasonable distance on a rail track, and funny enough, they mistakenly believe that they could use the rail track as their footpath with impunity. This is a dangerous behavior, because the train can come in any direction and the pedestrians may be caught in an area that may be too difficult for them to avoid or escape the oncoming train. Be watchful at a level crossing: Finally, always be watchful for other trains when you are at a level crossing with more than one rail track. In addition, don’t cross the track immediately after a train; please wait to see if other train is not moving on the other rail tracks. It pays to be safety conscious whenever you are at the level crossing.

In the African countries, mostly in the rural areas that are isolated by distance and difficult terrains, there is a tendency for an increase in the population of poor people. Often times, poverty comes as a result of poor or lack of transport infrastructure, such as rail, bridges and good roads that make it difficult, if not impossible for people in rural areas to access economic opportunities, marketplace, health care and education facilities. In fact, the aged and the disabled people extremely suffer for mobility. In rural areas, roads and waterways are the most common means that connect different rural communities to market places and other economic opportunities; hence, proper attention must be given to them i.e. (roads and waterways) why? It’s because of the benefits and potentialities they have to reduce the extreme poverty in the African’s rural areas. However, an improved mobility through transport investments and infrastructure are the important factors of developments with positive economic and social benefits. Truly speaking, adequate transport investments and infrastructure in African rural areas will eliminate hunger, improve education, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and so on. Many communities in rural areas in African countries engage in agriculture for their income generation. However, two of the ways to improve agricultural production in rural communities in Africa that will provide economic justification for their different countries are good transportation and transport infrastructure that will enhance easy mobility. Nevertheless, most of the African’s poor population is living in rural communities that are isolated by distance and difficult terrains from markets, healthcare, education, employment, and other economic opportunities, causing extreme poverty for the people and low agricultural production. However, the major solutions to poverty in rural communities in African rural areas are good transport infrastructure and transport investments in rural communities. Therefore, the transport national authorities in the African countries are expected to ensure that adequate resources are allocated for the construction and maintenance of rural roads and road infrastructure.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that there are over 3 million shipwrecks throughout the world at sea. A wrecked ship refers to a destruction or loss of a ship at sea. However there are unwanted and unprecedented events that actually make a ship to become wrecked at sea. Some of these events are: heavy storm; bad weather; collision with another ship; when the ship strikes a rock or iceberg; poor design of a ship; poor arrangement of cargo; navigation, to mention but a few. However, here are the notable shipwrecks in Africa:

1. A ship known as HMS Birken Head was sunk near Cape Town in South Africa.
2. In 1995, tourists discovered a shipwreck at Black Assarca.
3. A ship known as MV Mtongwe sunk on April 27, 1994, in Kenya.
4. A Greek oil tanker ship known as Katina P was sunk in Mozambique on April 26, 1992, caused by heavy storm.
5. On December, 1994, a fire accident caused a ship known as MS Achille Lauro to sink in Somalia territorial waters.
6. On September, 2011, a ship known as MV Spice Islander I was sunk in Somalia.
7. On May 21, 1996, in Mwanza area of Lake Victoria a ship known as MV Bukoba was sunk.
8. In addition, Lake Victoria in 2005, a ship known as MV kabaleja was sunk when it collided with another ship known as MV Kaawa in Ssese Island area.
9. On April 1st, 1999, a ship in Nigeria moving from Port-Harcourt to Nembe capsized.
10. On September 2002, a Senegalese passenger’s ship capsized near Gambia water territorial areas.

In conclusion, a shipwreck is always a great disaster and great loss that every marine company must try to avoid when preparing a ship for a journey. This is because a shipwreck may occur due to a human error and at times, it does occur accidentally. Nonetheless, every marine sailor must not throw safety into the wind when travelling by sea.

A bus-stop shelter is one of the important transport infrastructure designed for both passengers and commercial vehicles to “set down” and ‘pick up’ passenger. It is usually build on a public road with roof and inbuilt seats for passengers. It is an important infrastructure purposely made for passenger’s safety. It is interesting  to note that some of these bus- stop shelters are gradually becoming luxury, apartment for lunatics in Nigeria, thereby, making it so difficult and unpleasant to be used by public. Often times, I wonder at my observation when I see a mad man making use of transport infrastructures on our public roads without being checked. A time you see them using road side as their inevitable apartment and a times you may see them using round about facilities as their dwelling place. So, one may wonder if all these public transport infrastructures are alternative means for lunatics to live However, since many of these mentally ill people sharing the same road with pedestrians, hence, little will it baffle you when you see some of them making use of bus-stop shelter, road-side and round about infrastructure as their dwelling place? In all honesty, this is an eye sore on our public roads. I think, it is unacceptable to every Nigerian. It is not pleasant to the ears, to the eye and to the sense of reason. Hence, the saying two wrong things can never make a right. Furthermore, in a society where many insane people are allowed to move anyhow on our public road, this often has a negative effect on our environment. For instance on August 17, 2016, the writer of this article was listening to daily newspaper review on one of the radio stations in Nigeria, when he heard the story of a mad man who hit a pedestrian very hard on the head with iron, it was reported that the victim was bleeding from the head when he was quickly rushed to the hospital for treatment. More so, in 2013, precisely on Christmas day, a woman, her 4 children and 5 other people were killed when a container fell on a stationary commuter bus at Alaba Suru in Lagos. It was revealed that the truck driver was trying to avoid killing a mad man who slept on the road when the container it carried fell from the truck. In addition, some years back the writer was a witness on how a mad man was beaten mercilessly by motorist and passengers in Ibadan tollgate along Lagos/Ibadan expressway. Why? It was said that the mad man suddenly threw a big stone at oncoming vehicle from Lagos, this explains why the windshield was damaged and a passenger in the front seat sustained serious injury on the head. The simple truth is that a mad man on public road is a dangerous man. The rise in number of insane people on public roads is due to lack of adequate special institution that can house the insane people in our society, thereby, causing social problem on our roads and reducing the bus-stop shelter as luxury their apartment. However, provision of specialist institution by the government for mentally ill people in our society can never be over emphasized in this regards. In Nigeria today in most cases madness is mostly the problem of the families concern and if such families are unable to care and control the insane or house them they let them alone, moving around the street and on the public roads. Consequently, we have many mad people around us that are violently and highly disturbing. Social welfare board or the authority concern at all level of the government in the country have obligations and duties to prevent or make our public roads to be free from environmental harm and nuisance that are likely to cause by mentally deficient people. The authority concern in Nigeria is expected to provide adequate public mental asylum where all these insane people can be housed for better compassionate care and moral treatment that will enhance rehabilitation of the insane rather than allowing them to move around the public road aimlessly, thereby causing social problem on our roads. To this end, the authorities concern from all level of government in Nigeria must play a key role, through legal and financial means to implement and enforce decision that will make our public roads and transport infrastructures and all road users free from environmental harm and nuisance that are likely to cause by mentally deficient people. Nevertheless, as I observed the increase of mentally deficient people on our public roads so also, is the concern about their harmful effects to human health and the environment at large become, highly worrisome. Therefore, the social welfare board or the authority concern and transport authorities at all level in Nigeria are humbly but firmly called through this platform to formulate road transport environmental safety policy that will contribute to the sustainable economic development, health and safety of all road users by maintaining and improving the quality of our public roads and transport infrastructures.  

There are many causes of road accidents involving haulage trucks and tanker trucks in Nigeria but one of the major causes is poor safety attitude of the truck owners and truck drivers towards road safety. Road transport system, as it were, is an important element in economic growth. Surprisingly, it is also a great problem that affects the growth of the economy of a nation and the lives of the citizens at large. For instance, in 2006 to 2013, 41,118 deaths were recorded in Nigeria from road accidents. Source: FRSC. In addition, in 2014, World Health Organization (WHO) showed that Nigeria had the highest road fatalities with 33,700 out of every 100,000 segments every year. Without any iota of doubt, road transport is an indispensable element; yet it is a great problem that is fast depleting human resources. However, in the world today, there are several reasons or causes of road traffic crashes involving haulage and tanker trucks that may appear not to be a direct mistake or fault of the truck drivers. However, in Nigeria there are common notable causes of road traffic crashes involving haulage trucks. They are common events mostly identified by FRSC that give rise to large truck crashes on Nigerian roads. These are:

1. Dangerous driving and reckless or careless driving.
2. Over speeding
3. Tyre burst/violation
4. Obstruction
5. Brake failure
6. Overloading violation
7. Undue transportation business- driven factor

  Dangerous and reckless driving Reckless or careless driving is a notable cause of road accidents. This is said to occur when truck drivers drive on the roads without reasonable consideration for other road users, most especially car drivers or drivers of smaller vehicles. Dangerous driving, on the other hands, simply means an act of a motorist that leads to a fatal or serious accident. In other words, it is unsafe driving of a motorist that leads to the death of other road users. The simple difference between dangerous driving and reckless driving is that dangerous driving actually leads to an accident while reckless driving is a bid for an accident to occur. A truck driver is said to drive dangerously when the way he drives is totally different from what should be expected from a complete careful driver and such an act must be clearly noticeable to other motorists that the way such trucker or driver drives on the road is highly dangerous to other motorists. However, there are some avoidable acts which are rampant among truck drivers in Nigeria and which can easily lead to dangerous driving. These include:

1. Driving too fast for road condition.
2. Driving aggressively.

• Lack of good understanding of simple road signs and traffic rules

1. Dangerous overtaking
2. Driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol
3. Driving at a time when there is need to rest, most especially during festive periods.

• Distraction in any form while driving.

Nevertheless, the statistics given by FRSC shows that 1,767 haulage and tanker trucks were involved in road accidents in 2009. The said statistics also shows that 1,085 people died while 3,714 people were seriously injured from the said accidents. It is worthy of note that out of 1,767 road traffic crashes involving haulage trucks and tanker drivers in 2009, 292 accidents were caused by dangerous driving of truck drivers.       Over speeding Going by FRSC statistics, it is obvious that from January to June 2010, a total number of 1,427 haulage and tanker trucks were involved in road accidents out of which Nigeria recorded 965 deaths while 3,220 people were seriously injured. The given statistics also shows that out of the said accidents, 265 accidents were related to speed violation. Another unwanted act that can necessitate road traffic accidents in Nigeria is over speeding. It is not only motorists with smaller vehicles that do over speed on our public roads. Observations from individuals and organizations also show that haulage and tanker drivers also showcase their speed on the highway especially when the trucks are empty. According to the U.S Census Bureau “in 2008, there were 37, 261 speed related traffic fatalities in U.S” ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Sources The Pulse. Going by the given statistics, it becomes clear that over speed is a serious common problem in road transportation that needs an urgent attention not only in the developing countries but also in the developed countries. Over speeding is an act or instance where a motorist deliberately decides to move his vehicle faster than what it is allowed by law. However, beyond this scope of definition, I see over speeding as an act of someone or motorist who moves the vehicle too fast for the road condition. Tyre burst / violation According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U. S between 2009 and 2013, there were over 19,000 fatal crashes in the U.S involving heavy trucks and buses which killed almost 16,000 people. It is noted that tyres were a factor in 198 of these crashes and caused the death of 223 people. From the above paragraph, it is clearly noticeable that road traffic accidents involving haulage and tanker trucks are also caused by tyre burst or tyre safety violation. It is important to note that tyres are designed in relation to a particular recommended speed by the manufacturer. Many truckers are ignorant of this fact; hence, they run their trucks at a speed above the recommended speed by the manufacturer. This may reduce the life expectancy of the tyre. Truly speaking, many truckers lack the necessary information on the tyres that carry them around. For instance, in 2012, Vistal Press and Distribution Logistics Limited, a company, in Nigeria, in collaboration with Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), carried out an exercise at some motor parks to know if motorists comply with manufacturer’s recommended tyre air pressures. However, the result of the exercise showed that many of the motorists in Nigeria did not even know that their vehicles had any manufacturer’s recommended safety air pressures. Hence, they allow the roadside vulcanizers to determine their vehicle air pressures for them who are equally clueless about such information. The manufacturer’s recommended safety air pressures are very important because it is the air pressure inside the tyre that actually supports or carries the weight or the load on the vehicle not the black round shape object around the wheel. Tyres are made primarily to contain compressed air pressures needed to carry the weight on the vehicle around. Another important aspect to emphasize is the matching air pressures for dual assemble tyres. If one of the dual assemble tyres is inflated greater than the other tyre, probably by ‘4 psi or 6 psi’, the implication is that the tyre with greater compressed air pressure will be larger in terms of perimeter or circumference, therefore bearing the weight or the load alone. The result of this is that it will reduce the life expectancy of the tyre with greater air pressure. why? It is because the tyre with less air pressure will not have proper traction on the road. Furthermore, in 2008, 1,655 haulage and tanker trucks were involved in road accidents in which 1,221 lives were lost while 3,891 people sustained various degrees of injury. The statistics showed that in the said road traffic accidents which involved 1,655 trucks, 108 of them were caused by tyre burst / violation. Source: FRSC. Nonetheless, there are three most notable reasons why good maintenance of your tyre matters most in road transportation. They are highlighted as follows:

1. It is in the best interest of your safety and that of others.
2. It increases the life span of the tyres in your vehicle.
3. It increases the fuel economy.

Obstructions Road accidents, in Nigeria, in 2009, involving haulage and tanker trucks were 1,767 accidents. However, out of the given figures i.e (1,767 accidents), 106 accidents were identified as obstructions related accidents. Source: FRSC. An obstruction, as it were, is any object or anything that affects or hinders the free flow of traffic. With this simple understanding, it implies that obstructions to traffic on road may occur or appear in different forms. Hence, following are the forms of obstructions to road traffic:

1. Vehicles involving in a road accident.
2. Breaking down of vehicles in the middle of the road.

• Unconventional road signs: it is a common practice among some motorists in Nigeria, seeing them putting weeds behind their broken down vehicles as a sign of caution but when their vehicles are fixed up later, they quickly drive away the vehicles leaving the weeds on the roads. This is an eye sore on public roads.

1. Any object that falls on the road. e.g trees, electricity poles etc.
2. Unauthorized vendors and traders encroaching on the road.
3. A lunatic or an animal e.g. cow, walking in the middle of the road.

• Pothole: you can imagine an over loaded truck driver in a bid to evade potholes, such a vehicle may pose a serious danger to other road users.
• Refuse dumped on the road:

However, in some advanced nations, there are agencies with responsibility to ensure that the public road network is free from obstructions and it is also a punishable offence under the law if one is found guilty e.g in the U.S; North Ireland; etc. So, this will show to you that any of the obstructions is a serious problem that can make the public road unsafe to road users. Brake failure and overloading violation Brake failure is one of the major causes of accidents involving large and tanker trucks in Nigeria. From January to June 2010, 1, 427 trucks were said to be involved in road traffic crashes (RTC) and 3,220 people were injured while 965 people were killed in just 6 months due to brake failure and overloading violation. Brake failure can simply be caused by negligence on the part of the trucker and faulty installation. Overloading, on the other hand, is when a truck is used to carry load that exceeds its original capacity; such a truck is prone to accidents. Let us imagine a driver of an overloaded heavy truck in a bid to evade one pothole and the other on the highway. Such a truck may pose a serious danger to other road users. Moreover, overloading can cause the brake system of a truck to work harder and then get hotter than necessary. Consequently, these may lead to poor braking performance. It is also important to let you know that a typical articulated vehicle has nothing less than 10 brakes to work with and if any of these brakes loses its braking power, probably due to overloading of the truck or brake mis-adjustment or faulty installation, the brake load will be automatically transferred to the remaining brakes which consequently makes them to over work and with time, this may lead to a complete brake failure. If the brake of an overloaded truck on a sloppy highway suddenly loses its stopping power due to overloading, it is only God that can arrest the motion of such an overloaded truck. Truck overloading is dangerous and it is one the notable factors identified by FRSC as accounting for truck accidents and deaths on Nigerian roads. Undue Transport Business-driven factor It is important to note that some haulage transport company or truck owners allow their drivers to over work, most especially when there’s a rise in transport demand. It is obvious that there’s always an increase in transport demand during any festive period in Nigeria and this explains why there is a high rate of road accidents at such a time. For instance, in 2016, during an Easter break, Nigeria recorded 98 crashes and 77 deaths in road accidents. Source: FRSC Boss. When there is a high demand for transport, what some transport companies or truck owners do in order to meet the demand is to increase the allowances for their drivers. Hence, those drivers who erroneously assume they are the most hit by the present economic situations in the country agree to go for as many trips as possible so as to make more money without such drivers having adequate rest and planning before embarking on their next trips. Consequently, you see many of them on the road driving for more than 16 hours without rest. Such truck drivers are always impatient on the road rushing to make more money. When you allow a man to over work, this may lead to fatigue and sleeplessness. One can imagine the risks that may be involved when a truck driver suddenly falls asleep behind the wheel. It is needless to say that journeys with longer durations must be carefully organized and planned for safety purpose. Nevertheless, all the mentioned causes of road accidents involving haulage and tanker trucks in Nigeria can be traced to human factor. Therefore, they are avoidable accidents if all motorists and other road users can rise up to the task of making the road safer. Definitely, the high rate of road accidents involving haulage and tanker trucks will drastically reduce and consequently, the high rate of deaths and injuries usually sustained by victims will also be reduced. It is always good to be safety conscious.    

     A reason why railway was established in Nigeria Rail transport is the movement of people and goods by using a wheeled transport vehicle, which is made to move on a railway track. In Nigeria during colonial era when railway transport was first established, the primary aim of its establishment was to evacuate agric produce in Nigeria. Since, railway transport has the capacity to carry goods in large quantity; its establishment was fully considered by then. However, nowadays I see more reasons why railway transport system must be established in most countries especially in Nigeria where there are huge number of unemployed youths. One of the reasons among others is that railway transport system can create direct and indirect jobs for thousands of people. I hope if unemployment problem can be solved or reduced to barest minimum it will give a better life to many Nigerians and it will help the nation’s economy.   Meaning of unemployment Unemployment is a common problem in the world today. It is a major social problem that is affecting many youths in different parts of the world most especially in Africa. Unemployment happens when a man who is ready and able to work is searching for an employment over a period of time and he’s unable to find or get employment. Better still, it is when someone of working age is seriously looking for a paid work for weeks or months or years. However, the national unemployment rate in many countries is determined by the percentage of unemployed people in the total labour force. Unemployment and its consequences When a man is unemployed his family suffers for lack of money and he will not be able to contribute meaningfully to the economy of a nation at large, when it comes to service and production of goods. More so, unemployed people lack purchasing power and this may also lead to unemployment for other people, when goods and services are not properly or well patronized by fairly large number of people due to unemployment, the producers and the providers of such goods and services may fold up. Furthermore, militancy and other crimes in Nigeria have been linked to high rate of unemployed youths in the country. Hence, the saying, an idle hand is the devil’s work shop. Therefore, high rate of unemployment is a great problem and high risk in any given country that must be addressed. Financial distress is one of the direct consequences of unemployment, when getting a new job takes a longer time or period job searching becomes more difficult for the job seekers and it may lead to financial worries and anger, these may also explain why some of unemployed youths are involved in undesirable crime in the society When you consider a lot of challenges job seekers have to face in Nigeria, most especially when they are being deceived and defrauded by employment agencies, then I hope you will agree with me that the high rate of unemployed youths in Nigeria needs more urgent attention better than before. I personally discovered that transport generally as it were is a great source of employment in any given nation. However, I will like to talk on just mode of transport that can provide thousands of direct jobs to unemployed youths. This mode of transport is railway transport system. It is a special mode of transport that must not be undermined because it has the capacity to provide hundred thousand of jobs if properly maintained. However, at this point, it is important to look at some railway transport companies and their staff strength by this you will agree that railway transport is capable to provide thousands of jobs to thousands of people. Early days of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) “According to Jetson Nwakwo, managing director of the NRC said the company had employed 45,000 people between 1954 and 1975, current employment is only 6,516.” If a single organization as at 1975, provided direct jobs for 45,000 people and the figure for indirect jobs were not inclusive or mentioned, you can now imagine the number of direct and indirect jobs such a single company is likely to provide by now, if it’s properly maintained. Kenya Government plans to tackle unemployment. Kenya Government is planning very hard to reduce the number of unemployed citizen in their country through a viable railway transport system. “The new proposed railway deal in Kenya is expected to create more than 30,000 new direct jobs for Kenyans, while it also has the potential to provide 13,000 indirect jobs through the local companies that are expected to supply local materials and the services needed for the venture.” Source: Daily Nation.  Indian Railway the 7th largest employer in the world It is interesting to know that in whole world, railway transport system is the7th largest employer of labour. The name of the railway company is India Railway. It has 1.334 million employees in 2014. Source: Wikipedia. When a single company employed over one million people, you can also imagine indirect jobs such company will also provide for people in its environment. Pakistan Railways: The Pakistan Railways also provides employment to large number of her citizens, the company employed 82,424 people between year 2010 and 2011. Source: Wikipedia. Russian Railways: The Russian Railways was established in 18^th of September, 2003. However, as at 31^st of December, 2011, the company employed 942, 808 people. Source: Wikipedia.  Other Railway Transport Companies and their Staff Strength The following companies are rail-manufacturing companies in the world and they also run a railway transport system, hence, it is important to look at the number of direct jobs they provided in each of the company for better understanding. Bombardier: It is a Canadian company that has 33,800 rail-related employees as at early year of 2010. You can also imagine what the figure will be by now. Railway transport is a major source of employment. Alstom: This is a company that has its headquarters in France, and in its transport division, it has 27,000 employees. Siemens: This is a German company that has 19,000 employees in its transport division. China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock (CSR): Is a China base company it has about 112,000 employees. China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock: It is also one of the rail manufacturing companies that have more than 100,000 employees. Source credited to: Global Competitiveness in the Rail and Transit Industry by: Michael Renner and Gary Gardner. Without a nagging doubt, the existence of mode rail infrastructure in above given countries is a significant source of employments, that makes important contribution to improve quality of life of thousands of people, by providing jobs in thousands to unemployed youths and boosting the economy. Therefore, my earlier assertion that railway transport system is a notable solution to unemployment is not an over statement but, a stark truth.    

There are five (5) transport modes and main purpose of each of them is to give support to mobility. This explains why mobility is important in our daily activities. Mobility and transport infrastructure are closely related; hence, without mobility, transport infrastructure will be useless and without transport infrastructure; mobility will be difficult if not possible. However, this interdependency between mobility and transport infrastructure is associated to two (2) concepts in transport which are transport demand and supply. Transportation can be referred to as a market that involves two parties which are: the suppliers of transport services and the users of these services, therefore, the demand and the supply of transport is inevitable in transport market. In addition, for transport market to function very well, transport demand must be met, so as to satisfy transport needs for mobility. In transportation market, transport companies or individual transport provider offers transport services to transport users who require such services, often on open markets. Nevertheless, the transport users pay for the services delivered according to the journey of the agreed contract. What is transport demand? Transport demand occurs when a transport user is willing and able to pay a transport fare or particular amount of money based on the two parties’ agreement for a specific transport service. It is also refers to how much of a transport service is desired by transport users at various transport fares (price). Nevertheless, transport demand can be measured in numbers of journey made. Factors influencing transport demand Movement of people and good occur for different reasons at different times. There are several factors that influence the demand for transport mode such factors can be grouped into three (3) categories; they are:

1. Personal characteristics
2. Trip characteristics
3. Transport system

Personal characteristics Transport demand can be influenced by demographic group of people such as age, old, gender etc. It also includes socio-economics, personal reference and so on. Trip characteristics Transport demand can be influenced by the number of people going to their place of work, people visiting tourist and recreation centers; education; shopping and so on, are all factors that can affect the demand for transportation. Transport system Transportation system is another factor that can influence transport demand. This include available travel routes, available transport mode, road and transit network, cost of travel, transport fare, travel condition, auto operating cost, reliability of service, to mention but a few. What is Transport Supply? Transport supply is the amount of transport services a transport company or individual transport provider is able to provide at a particular given time and on agreed fare (cost). Factors influencing transport supply

1. Types and characteristics of goods

The bulk, the weight and the value of goods may determine the mode and kind of transport needed for particular goods.

2. The Cost of freight
3. The origin and destination of goods and available transport
4. The distance of the journey: e.g. Inter-regional, Trans Ocean, Continent etc.
5. Urgency and reliability of delivery, convenience, efficiency of travel, including modal transfer.

In conclusion, it is important to note that transport system behavior is always according to transport demand and supply that can be influenced by cost variation.    

Plan as a word is a method formed by a person or group of people to achieve particular goals and objectives. Therefore, planning means the act or process of carrying out plans to achieve goals and objectives in different areas e.g. in Business. (Industrial planning) in transport (Transport planning), etc What is transport planning? In 2006, the transport planning society defined the key purpose of transport planning as: – to plan, design, deliver, manage and review transport, balancing the needs of society, the economy and the environment. From the above definition it means transport planner have a great work or duty to perform. It is important to examine them one after the other for better understanding.

• Transport planners have to plan:

To achieve a good success in any area of endeavour, there must be a good plan. If not success may be a mirage or day dream. Hence, the saying, any one that fails to plan, plan to fail. This explains why planning in transport is evitable. Transport manager must be a good transport planner.      Transport planners have to design: To plan is not enough if the transport planner(s) has no will power to execute according to the transport plan. Transport planners must have ambitions to design transport policy or program for the benefit of everyone in the society. For instance, transport discrimination with emphasis on road transport against vulnerable groups in the society such as the poor, the elderly and the disabled must be eradicated by a good transport plan designed for such vulnerable groups in the society. More so, necessary transport project, systems and services must not be left out when making transport planning for the society. Transport planners have to deliver: Transport planners also have the responsibility to deliver good transport services to the society. When a transport plan is made to achieve a transport aim and objectives and when good transport design is made in terms of transport policies and programmers to address transport problems in the society, hence, all these activities or steps must produce a desired or expected result. Otherwise, transport planning will be meaningless. Transport planners have to manage and review transport: Before any organization can achieve its aim and objective, the available resources must be carefully and adequately managed. In the same vain, if the purpose of transport planning must be achieved available transport resources must be adequately managed by the transport planners. In addition, the act of view or see again on how to improve the existing transport system and infrastructure cannot be overlooked as a vital responsibility of transport planners. Therefore, there is need to evaluate and re-examine transport regulatory policies and programmes for the benefit of transport users. More so, there is an urgent need to review transport system most especially in Africa to accommodate the vulnerable people such as old people, disable, and children. Transport planners have to balance the needs of the society, the economic and the environment: Transport planners also have a great responsibility to create transport regulatory policies, strategies and plans that contribute to meeting social, economic and environment needs. For instance, transport plan to support green environment is a vital plan and benefit of society at large. Transport planners have to play a technical and coordinating role to the government: Since politicians also have their own way of addressing issues or problems, hence transport planners are expected to provide better transport information to decision makers such that politicians can make a good decision that will produce a good transport result for the society at large. Nevertheless, when there is any problem a society face, there must be a plan to address such a social problem. However, when you consider transport problems and issues that a particular society are facing and what goals and objectives can be used to address transport issues or problems then the need for transport planning becomes inevitable in this regards.  

Freight management is the management of a company’s freight. It is a management system that specializes in movement of freight or goods from one place to another. Freight management can be carried out in both international level and domestic level. It is international when goods are moved from one country to another country and it is domestic when goods are moved from one place to another within the same country. Any freight management company relies majorly on transport to carry out their businesses. In freight management, proper decision must be taken in order to determine the mode of transport that is appropriate for a particular freight. However, there are 3 factors that must be considered before a freight management department or company decides on a types of mode needed for a particular freight. The factors are:-

1. Time factor
2. Cost factor

• Product factor

It is important to note that freight management cost is used to save business time and money in the entire freight operations. It is possible that transportation alone may account for almost 50% of an average company’s cost if not properly checked. This explains why freight management is important to an organization; it helps to keep freight cost lower for an organization which directly affects the bottom line and the price paid by all customers for a particular goods or supply. In fact, freight management appears to be a strategic system an organization needs to optimize the efficiency of freight and commercial transport. Benefits of freight management The benefits of freight management to an organization cannot be overemphasized. Such benefits among others include:

• It enables the organization to increase profitability.
• It enables the organization to increase production.
• It gives administrative support to an organization
• It gives better inventory management; lower inventory level and reduce carrying costs.
• It improves on-time delivery.
• Proper material handling; less damage and supports efficient receiving.
• It gives immediate notification of any disruption.
• It gives customers satisfaction.
• It improves the company reliability.
• It uses mode of transport more efficiently with economic value and goals in view.
• It protects the good from damage during transportation.

However, poor management of company’s product or goods brings a great loss to the organization. I have seen many products of an organization that suffered heavy damage in transits due to poor transportation and bad road. Proper freight management will definitely reduce this high risk because success of freight management is linked to the efficient use of transportation. Nonetheless, since the essence of freight management is to increase efficiency, reliability and to minimize freight cost. Hence, it will not be understatement to say that freight management is inevitable to any manufacturing company.  

Fleet management system has to do with proper management of an organization’s vehicle fleet. Any organization that has fleet of vehicles and that actually rely on them to carry out their daily operations needs proper vehicle management system such a system is GPS fleet management system. It is a system that helps the organization to locate their vehicles at any time, boosting their productivity, increase drive accountability and reduce fuel usage. In fact, fleet management system can help to reduce vehicles breakdowns. However, here below are the benefits of GPS fleet management system.

• It keeps the vehicle on the road through preventive maintenance: One of the important benefits of GPS fleet management is that it helps the organization to avoid costly down time. Every hour that any organization’s vehicle is out of operation is a big loss to the company. This explains why GPS fleet management is important to any organization that has fleet of vehicles. However, through GPS fleet management a fleet manager can receive text messages or e-mail to remind him when the vehicles are due for preventive maintenance. Early good maintenance enables the company to offer just-in-time delivery services to their prospective customers.
• GPS fleet management reduces maintenance costs through early detections: When a technical fault or mechanical fault is detected early enough, this will help the fleet manager to address such little problem ahead of time before it becomes a big problem or lead to many other problems. This is what GPS fleet management does for you. Instead of you to depend on your drivers to give you information when the alignments are not okay or when the gears are not working properly etc.GPS fleet management system will give you reliable information on the condition of your vehicles how? The system will notify you through email or text message; if the onboard diagnostic code is activated. You will receive diagnostic trouble codes (DTCS) that will identify specific problems of the vehicles. This will surely helps the fleet manager to know exact problems that must be addressed and to make a reasonable decision early enough on the costs in order to avoid unwanted downtime. Once you know what to be fixed, I think it is better in that way than relying on a mechanic to tell you.
• It also helps you to monitor your vehicles at any location: GPS fleet management system, also help you to locate your vehicles at any time, hence if there’s a transport demand in a particular area; the fleet manager will have first hand information on the locations of their vehicles and he can assign the close vehicles to carry out the job.
• It leads to profit maximization: Through the helps of GPS fleet management system fleet operation cost can be reduced. For instance the system can reduce the no of staff, over time costs, maintenance costs, prevent down time etc. all these benefits will helps a company to maximize profits.
• It enhances performances: Since vehicles location can be monitored and the diver whereabouts can be known through GPS, it will enable the manager to plan on how better to assign job to each according to the location between the vehicle and the assignment. This will enable the company to offer quick service delivery.

In addition, when the drives are aware that their whereabouts are known to their superior officer they become more responsible and diligent in their assignments. In other words, it gives room for accountability and efficiency.

• It reduces fuel usage and co₂ emission with GPS tracking system: Drivers will find it difficult to take the company’s vehicle to an unauthorized location or journey. This will control the unnecessary fuel waste. More so, since unnecessary journey or idling can be eliminated through GPS tracking system, this will surely reduce the amount of carbon emission into the air.
• It is used to check unauthorized use of company vehicle: With the help of GPS fleet management. It will be very difficult if not impossible for any driver to use the company’s vehicles for personal gain.
• It enhances safety: Proper maintenance of vehicle through the helps of GPS will boost the safety of the vehicle and the drivers. When a vehicle is in good condition it will make the road safer for all the road users. More so, where there’s need for emergency GPS location data can be used to contact the nearest emergency unit for assistance.
• Customer service: With GPS real-time vehicles tracking data may be used to confirm driver delivery and the time spent. Goods can also be monitored in transits just to ensure that customer goods are delivered in time.
• It reduces insurance costs and liability: When the company’s fleet are in good condition and the driver’s behavior can also be checked. This will reduce the accidents rate.
• It discourages robbery/stealing: Installation of GPS device gives you opportunity to know your vehicle’s location any time, therefore, when a thief knows that the location of the vehicles he steals is known he will think twice before he steals and even if it is stolen, you will not have any problem to locate your vehicle.
• It reduces a lot of paper work and also prevent unnecessary mistake that may occur due to lot of paper work. GPS has automated features that save time and it is also reliable.
• It can give higher resale value: One of the benefits of GPS fleet management system is that, it can give detail information on the condition of the vehicle. In other words, it can detect any technical fault early enough and this will help a good manager to ensure that each vehicle that has technical problems is in good condition as early as possible. This will prolong the life cycle of the vehicle and to make such vehicle to have higher resale value.
• Reduction in overhead costs: Since, it is a known fact that GPS fleet management system can reduce maintenance cost; in the same vein GPS fleet management system cause reduction in overhead costs. The direct costs and indirect cost of managing fleet of vehicles including administrative staff, fuel usage, maintenance costs, among others are reduced with the use of GPS fleet management system.
• It prolong the life cycle of equipment: Proper fleet maintenance procedures play an important role to prolong life expectancy of equipment. For instance, if a useful life of an equipment is 12-year, poor maintenance of an equipment may reduce the expectancy to 8-year.

Since, GPS fleet management system has huge benefits, then it will be better and reasonable if organization that has fleet of vehicles or offers transport services to the public use this system in order to enhance their smooth transport operations.  

All transport accidents are unwanted accidents but, the most unwanted accident in overland transport is rail accident. Why? It is because one rail accident can kill or injure a fairly large number of people more than other land transport. For instance, on 20^th of March, 2015, an India train knows as Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derails and killed 15 people while 150 people are injured in a single accident. However, rail accidents that occurred in 2016 are here below:   4 January in US. A Tri-Rail passenger train collided with a garbage truck which had broken down on a grade crossing at Lake Worth station, Florida and was derailed. 22 people were injured. 8 January in Thailand- A passenger train collided with a Cattle truck near Phetchaburi Railway Station, Phetchaburi province and was derailed. 3 people are killed, 34 people were injured.  

Often the time, I have seen people talking about road accident either on radio or news paper while a plane crash make a big noise in the world, but it is not common to see many people in the country, talking about rail accident when you compare it to how they talk about road accident or plane crash in the country. At this point, it is interesting to let you know that there are several rail accidents in 2015 that you need to know and here below are the list of rail accidents in the said year:

• 7^th of January- Canada – A CN freight train 114 cars derails between the community of Jarrow, Alberta and village of lrma. 23 cars also derail.
• 14^th of January-USA- A Texas Department of Criminal Justice bus with 12 inmates and 3 officers was traveling from Abilene, Texas to El Paso, Texas when it collided with a train, near Odessa, Texas, killing 10.
• 3^rd February, in USA, A Metro-North Railroad train strikes one car at a crossing near Valhalla, New York, and cateches on fire, killing 6 people.
• 13^th of February, in India, Anekal derailment of intercity Express in the Bangalore of Kamataka, India killing 10 and injuring 150 more.
• 16^th February, in Canada A CN freight train transporting crude oil derails 80 km south of Timmins, Ontaro. 29 of 100 cars derail and 7 crude oil tank cars catch fire.
• 16^th Feburary, in US.- A CSX freight train derails in West Virginina. A broken rail caused 19 Bakken crude oil tank cars to catch fire, with 1,100 people evacuated from their homes nearby.
• February 20 in Switzerland-Rafz train crash an S-Bahn train and an interregio express train collide at Rafz.
• 24^th of February, in US. Oxnard train derailment a Metrolink train hits a road vehicle at Oxnard, California. The train engineer dies and 29 others are injured.
• 25^th February, in US, A CN freight train traveling from Winnipeg, Mnitoba to Superior, Wisconsin derails 25 miles northwest of Duluth, Minnesota. Thirteen of 107 cars in the train derail, some of which contain naphthalene. No injuries or spills were reported.
• 2 March in US. A Pacific train hauling hazardous material derails near Meacham, Oregon; 10 cars jump the tracks in a narrow canyon overlooking Meacham Creek.
• 5 March in US. A BNSF oil train derails in a rural area near Galena, Illinois. 21 of the 105 cars, leave the track and catch fire, which continues to burn, no injuries are reported.
• 6 March in Netherlands- A passenger train runs into the rear of a freight train between Tilburg Universiteit and Tilburg stations. A few passenger suffer slight injuries.
• 7^th of March in Canada- A CN freight train derails near the small Northern Ontario village of Gogama, Ontario. 40 out of 100 cars derail, with 5 of them entering the Makami River and 7 carrying crude oil catching fire and burning for several days.
• 7^th of March UK. – A charter train overruns a signal at Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire and comes to a stop foul of a junction, where an express train has passed through a minute earlier. As a direct result of the incident, West Coast Railway Company were banned from accessing all lines in the UK as of 3 April, 2015.
• 9^th of March in United States- An Amtrak passenger train collides with a tractor trailer in Halifax, North Carolina. No life-threatening injuries were reported. The accident was caught on video.
• 10 March in Vietnam- A passenger train collide with a vehichle on level crossing in Hai Lang District and is derailed. The train driver is killed and 4 people were seriously injured.
• 12 March in Netherlands- A fire occurs on a passenger train at Abcoude, Utrecht. All on board are evacuated. 24 people are taken to hospital.
• 15 March in US.- A Norfolk Southern freight train crashes into a white Toyota Camry car with 4 passengers in it while it was crossing the tracks at a level crossing in Buechel, Kentucky. 2 people were killed in the crash while 2 were injured and taken to nearby hospital.
• 20 March in India- 15 people are killed, 150 are injured as the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derails in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli.
• 26 March in Thailand- A passenger train runs into the rear of another in Phachi District. 52 people are injured in the collision, three seriously.
• 28^th of March in USA- an Expo Line train collides with two cars causing the 2015 Los Angeles train crash. There are at least 21 injuries.
• 31^st of March in Australia- A freight train runs into the rear of another at Keswick, Adelaide, South Australia. At least one of the rail is derailed and 2 level crossings are blocked.
• 10^th of April in Canada- A freight train derails north east of Calgary, Alberta.
• 15^th of April in United Kingdom- A empty Southern Class 377 train unit no. 118 derails in Lovers Walk, Brighton causing damage to electrical cable that supply power. No passengers were in the train but the driver is not injured by the result. Buses replace train in the afternoon and the morning of 16/4/2015.
• 27 April in US. – Several well cars of a Union Pacific train derail off a Bridge City, Louisiana during a severe storm.
• 28 April in South Africa- Two passenger trains collide at Denver station, near Johannesburg. One person is killed and about 240 people are injured.
• 6 May in US. – A train derails near Heimdal, North Dakota, which ignites a crude oil fire in 6 tanker cars and forces the evacuation of approximately 40 nearby residents. Npo injuries or fatalities were reported.
• 12 May in US. – Amtrak passenger train Northeast Regional Train 188, coming from Washington D. C. to New York City and carring an estimated 238 passengers and five crew, derails and partially rolls over on its side in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Port Richmond neighborhood. Out of the 243 passengers and crew on the train more than 200 are injured in the derailment, with a confirmation of 8 deaths. This is the U. S.‘s deadliest train incident in almost 6 years.
• 13 May,-US. A CSX freight train collides with a bus in East Point, Georgia that was trapped on a railroad crossing by traffic, while stopped at a traffic light. 6 people were injured in the wreck.
• 16 May in Germany- A passenger train collides with an agricultural vehicle on a level crossing at lbbenburen, North-Rhine Westphalia. 2 people are killed and 20 are injured.
• 25 May, in India – An express train derails between Athsarai amd Sirathu stations, Uttar Pradesh. 2 people are killed and over 100 are injured.
• 30 May, in UK. 2 electric multiple units collide at Cambridge. 3 people are injured.
• 11 June in Tunisia 19 people are killed and 98 injured when a rush hour passenger train hits a lorry and derails at an unmarked crossing south of Tunis. Most of the dead were passenger on the train which hit the lorry around 60 km south of the capital the transport ministry said.
• 28 June in India an electric unit overruns the buffers at churchgate, Mumbai. Five people are injured.
• 30 June in UK. A freight train is derailed near Langworth, Lincoishire.
• July 2^nd in US. A train carrying hazardous materials goes off of its tracks near Knoxville, Tennessee.
• July 2^nd in Pakistan Army passenger train is derailed when a bridge over a canal collapses under it at Gujiranwala.19 of the 300 people on board are killed.
• 18^th of July, in South Africa 2 passenger trains are in collision at Booysens, Johannesburg. Over 100 people are injured.
• 22^nd of July, in Czech Republic- A train crashes with a truck in Studenka whereby 3 people die and 13 others are injured.
• 26 July in UK. – A Southeastern Class 375 collides with herd of cattle on the line at Chilham, kent and 375703’s front coach is derailed. There are no injuries amongst the 70 passengers.
• 1^st of August, in Uk- A ballast train runs into the rear of another ballast train near Cumnock, Ayrshire. Both trains are derailed.
• 4^th of August in India- 2 passenger trains are derailed near Kudawa, Madhya Pradesh due to the tracked being washed away by the Machak River. 29 people are killed.
• August 8, in Russian- Passenger train with number 233 in Mordovia derails because of boarding of the rails. 4 railcars of a passenger train en route from Yekaterinburg to Adler run off the rails in Mordovia. 5 passengers are injured.
• 24^th of August, in India-A Bangalore-Nanded Express train number 16594 is rammed by a granite-laden truck at level crossing near Madakasira in Anantapur district, leading to derailment of 4 coaches and killing 6 people.
• 12 September in Germany- A passenger train collides with a car in Monzingen, killing the 5 occupants of the car.
• 12 September in India- A passenger train derails on the Kalka-Shimla Railway killing 2 and injuring 9 of the 37 passengers on board.
• 16 September, in Germany- A passenger train is in collision with a bus on a level crossing at Hedendorf. All those on board the bus, which had stalled, had been evacuated before the accident. 1 passenger on the train is injured.
• 5^th of October, in US. – An Amtrak passenger train strikes rocks on the line and derails near Northfield, Vermont.
• 24 October in US. A southbound Union Pacific freight train hauling 64 cars of gravel and concrete materials was swept off the tracks by flood waters just north of Corsicana, Texas, after Hurricane Patricia’s weak remnants dumped 18 inches of rain on the area over a 2-day period. Both crew members were rescued from the flood waters uninjured.
• 14 November, in France- A high speed TVG test train derails near Eckwersheim, north of Strasbourg (Alsace), killing 11 people and injuring the remaining 49 survivors; no criminal cause is suspected, despite the event taking place hours after the November 2015 Paris attacks.
• 14 November, in US. A freight train collided with a Toyota Camry in North Carolina, killing the 2 elderly passengers of the vehicle.
• 17 November, in Pakistan- The Jaffar Express is derailed at Aab-e-Gum. 20 people are killed and 96 injured.
• 27 December, in Australia- A freight train carrying 819,000 litres of sulphuric acid derails 20 km (20mi) east of Julia Creek, Queensland, leaking up to 31, 500 litres of acid.

Transport and tourism are two sides of a coin that cannot be separated from each other when it comes to tourism industry. Although, transport can survive without tourism but tourism cannot survive without transportation, this explains why transport is more crucial in tourism industry. Transport plays a key role in expansion of both international and national tourism, transport provides connections between regions, domestically and internationally and connecting attractions, accommodation and commercial services. Transport as it were has major effect on the growth of tourism in any nation. The important of tourism varies from one country to another and it has the potential to contribute significantly to the country’s wealth. At this point, it is important to examine the benefits of tourism to any nation and to also see why transport is so crucial to achieve these benefits. * Tourism creates employment. One of the benefits of tourism is the jobs it brings to the people; it creates direct employments, such direct employments are tour guides, hotel staff, coach services, restaurants, drivers among others. Another interesting fact about tourism is that they source for locally produced goods and products; this means tourism can also boost local industries, therefore, creating indirect jobs to the people. Therefore, without transport job creation in tourism will be difficult, if not impossible. *It makes more money available in local community Tourism enhances global trade, there are quite number of basic human needs that a tourist will like to buy or have, example of these needs are: food, clothing, hairdressing, transportation, medical services and so on, therefore, the money spent by the tourists at the tourist center on their basic needs, makes more money available in the community thereby, boosting the local economy of the community. Nevertheless, if tourist centers are not easily accessible by train or bus, then the act of buying and selling will appear to be a mere fallacy, as a result of this, more money will not available to boost the economy of the community. *Economy diversification Tourism is another way to generate revenue into the economy. Tourism is essential to a community or country that relies majorly on a single industry, to such country or community; it is a viable source to generate revenue. *It improves infrastructure. Tourism enables a nation to develop infrastructure of the nation’s rural area where tourist centers are located, for any tourist center to function very well and to attract a lot of tourists, then good infrastructure must be developed. Building of good roads, parking space, hospital, electricity, airports and so on, will encourage more visitors (tourists) to visit tourist center in the local area. Since tourism also generates a lot of revenue to the economy, then, government is also expected to develop good infrastructure for tourist centers. *It brings cultural advantages. Tourism can also be used to protect cultural heritage of a particular community where tourist center is located. Tourists may also have the opportunity to know the history of the local community. It also promotes inter-cultural exchange. However, it is important to note that the huge benefits that tourism brings to the communities and the nation at large cannot be achieved without transportation. This explains why transport is inevitable in tourism.

1. OR Tambo International Air Port, Johannesburg. South Africa.

The air port tops the list of best air port in Africa. It handles more than 17 million passengers every year. However, the recent upgrade infrastructure of the air port enables it to handle up to 28 million passengers yearly.

2. Cape Town International Air Port, Cape Town, South Africa.

It is capable to handles 14 million passengers annually.

3. King Shaka International Air Port, Durban, South Africa.

It handles up to 5 million passengers every year. The port is also known as La Mercy Air Port.

4. Cairo International Air Port, Cairo, Egypt.

It is the largest and the second busiest air port in Africa.

5. Hurghada International Air Port, Hurghada Egypt.
6. Sharam El-Sheikh International Air Port.

It handles up to 10 million passengers annually.

7. Muhammed V International Air Port, Casablanca Morocco.

The air port handles up to 7.5 million passengers in every year.

8. Murtala Muhammed International Air Port, Lagos. Nigeria.

It is the largest air port in the country and it handles over 6 million passengers.

9. Jomo Kenyatta international Air Port. Nairobi, Kenya.

It is the Kenya largest air port and the busiest eastern and central African region. It handle more than 5 million passengers annually.

10. Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

It handles more than 1 million every year and over 800 tones of cargoe.        

Traveling by air seems unsaved to a fairly large number of people due to what they see, hear or read. News on plane crashes make a big noise in the world, such news naturally stays longer in the mind of many fliers or people. In fact, it is a mind-blogging to many people. This may explain why the flying fear still remains in the heart of some people. Therefore, you may think that traveling by air is riskier than traveling on the road, but truly speaking; traveling by air is safer than traveling on the road. However, it is interesting to note that, traveling by air is safer than traveling on the road. Why? It is because safety is the major concern of every airline industry and there’s no any other mode of transportation that does it better than air line industries. In fact, there is no other mode of transportation that can be fully monitored, investigated and scrutinized as we have in aviation industries. Truly speaking plane crashes are so rare when you compare it to road transport accidents. According to World Health Organization, road traffic injuries caused an estimated 1.24 million deaths worldwide in the year 2010. With this estimation, it seems one person is killed in every 25 seconds. It is very rare or difficult to have this kind of estimation in air transport within a year. Why? It is because safety in aviation industries is not negotiable. It is a core value of any aviation industry in the world. Furthermore, I wonder how some motorists drive recklessly on the road, reckless driving is a common habit among the motorists, but in air transport it is uncommon to see a reckless pilot, in fact, it is very rare if not impossible to see pilots showing a reckless disregard for the safety of others. A good airport control also creates a better safety environment in aviation industries. Movement-detection monitors in airport, show every vehicle on runway, taxiway, and terminal gate, this helps the controllers to receive warnings of potential collisions. Therefore, a good airport traffic control helps to prevent unwanted collision in the airport. From the above reasons, I hope you will also agree that traveling by air is safer than traveling on the road.

Railway transportation is one of the transport modes that suitable for large transportation of people and cargos over a long distance. It is efficient and cheap in carrying a large number of people and goods more than any other overland transports. These important qualities make it more relevant and preferable in overland transport. Therefore, I think it is important to talk about the manufacturers of rail vehicles in the world. Here below the leading rail-manufacturer companies in the world: Bombardier: This is the number one leading manufacturer company of rail-vehicles. It is a Canadian company that was established in 1940s; and ii 19 70s the company engaged in rail business and the headquarters of the company transportation division is located in Germany. However, the company has not less than 59 production and engineering sites and 20 service centers in 25 countries. It is interesting to know that over 100,000 rail- vehicles and 2,500 trams and light rail-vehicles produced by Bombardier Company are used throughout the world. In addition, the company also supplied more than 3,000 sub-way cars to the United Kingdom, China and India. More so, the company is the major provider of commuter and regional trains in France and Germany. It is also interesting to know that Bombardier Company and Alstom Company built Amatrak’s Acela Express. Indeed, Bombardier is the largest rail-vehicle manufacturer in the world. Alstom: Alstom is the 2^nd largest rail-vehicles manufacturer company that was established in 1928, and started to manufacture rail-vehicles in 1932, and its headquarters is located in France. The company built over 400 TGVs that are used in France while another over 640 in used throughout the world. In addition, the company built another faster rail-vehicle 2008, knows as AGVs with a high speed of 225 miles per hour. However, it is important to note that Alstom tops the global market for very high speed rail-vehicles. It is the second largest manufacturer of tram and subway vehicles in the world. Siemens: it’s a German company that was established in 1847. The company with Bombardier’s Adtranz manufacture high speed train knows as ICE 2, it also, supplied a quite number of ICE 3 trains to some countries which are Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Russia and China. The company has made a good history in Shanghai by designing and building the Maglev train which is the only railway system in operation till date. Kawasaki and other Japanese companies: these Japanese companies that specialize in rail manufacturing are among the big companies in Japan. It’s worthy to note that the rail division of Kawasaki firms has manufactured over 90,000 rail vehicles since 1906. Each rail manufacturer company in Japan can design and build slower-speed trains while high-speed trains are design and build in collaboration with other rail manufacturers which are Nippon Sharyo, Hitachi, Kawasaki, Kinki Sharyo, Mitsubishi, and Tokyo Car Corp. However, some countries have placed order for Japanese train the countries include Taiwan, China, India and United Kingdom. China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock (CSR) and China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock (CNR): These 2 china’s companies were established in 2001. The CSR specialized in producing electric locomotives, high-speed electrical multiple units (EMUs), and certain types of subway vehicles. However, CNR specialized in producing diesel locomotives, very-high speed (EMUs) and certain types of subway vehicles. However, both companies manufacture high speed rail in collaboration with the leading international rail manufacturers. These are the rail manufacturing companies that produce many rail vehicles that are used in the world today. The existence of these manufacturing companies is a boost to rail transport operation in the world. Source credited to: Global Competitiveness in the Rail and Transit Industry by: Michael Renner and Gary Gardner.