Rail suicide or suicide by train is deliberate self-harm resulting in death by means of impact from a moving rail vehicle. The suicide occurs when an approaching train hits a suicidal pedestrian jumping onto, lying down on, or walking or standing on the tracks. Low friction on the tracks usually makes it impossible for the train to stop quickly enough. On urban mass transit rail systems that use a high-voltage electrified third rail, the suicide may also touch or be otherwise drawn into contact with it, adding electrocution to the cause of death.
Unlike other methods, rail suicide often directly affects the general public. Trains must be rerouted temporarily to clean the tracks and investigate the incident, causing delays for passengers and crews that may extend far beyond the site, a costly economic inconvenience. Train drivers in particular, effectively forced into being accomplices to the suicide they witness, often suffer post-traumatic stress disorder that adversely affects their personal lives and careers. In recent years railways and their unions have been offering more support to afflicted drivers.
