Four hundred and ninety five (495) people lost their lives on trains or railway lines in the year ending March 2017.
The statistics have been released by the Transport Ministry at a media briefing in Johannesburg.
Officials say most deaths occurred by people miscalculating the speed of an approaching train while they crossed railway lines. Others died after falling off moving trains.
The majority of the incidents took place in Gauteng.
Between April last year and March this year, 219 people were killed in Gauteng, 137 in the Western Cape, 92 in KwaZulu-Natal and 47 in all the other provinces combined.
More than 2000 people have also been injured across the country.
Transport officials say the ministry is in talks with various stakeholders in the railway sector to try and put an end to the alarming number of deaths and injuries.
