Railway suicide

Railroad suicide is a complex and poorly studied area of suicidology. This review shows that in Russia, single, periodically appearing messages do not allow to assess the scale of the problem in the country in general, to identify factors and risk groups, and, therefore, to determine effective individual prevention measures. The experience of individual countries indicates the possibility of introducing specific preventive measures implemented directly on the railway, for example, installing systems for restricting access to trains at stations and open paths, logistic regulation of passenger flows, video monitoring and thematic training of personnel, transport police and other specialists. However, not all of the proposed preventive measures prove their effectiveness. Reducing suicidal mortality in Russia is undoubtedly an urgent task, and the issues of suicide prevention on the railways require deeper study and need to be included in the general program of suicide prevention. Considering the specifics of the topic, it is necessary to involve all interested parties, including functional specialists in the organization of traffic on the railways, security services, services for logistics of passenger traffic and transport police, as well as medical workers (psychiatrists, forensic doctors, traumatologists), etc. The authors conclude that an effective system of prevention is possible only when the characteristics of all factors related to suicidal activity are taken into account. This requires a systematic analysis of the specifics of the work of railways in Russia and the services and departments associated with them, a deeper study of potential suicide attempters interested in railways and dying there. The experience of foreign countries can also be used and applied, with the peculiarities of the domestic system of suicide prevention and the organization of the work of railways being considered.