The UK's Rail Safety & Standards Board - RSSB - published its annual safety performance report for 2009/2010. I read the "Key facts and figures" bit - and fascinating it was too.

There were no passenger or workforce fatalities in train accidents in Great Britain during the year.

There were five passenger fatalities (two on platform edges hit by trains, two falling off platforms and one falling on an escalator): this is equal to the lowest annual figure on record. There were three workforce fatalities, and 298 public fatalities - suicides, trespassers or people misusing level crossings.

Most of the risk of fatalities on the railway is through the behaviour of members of the public.

The annual average number of workforce fatalities has dropped by 98% since 1949: passenger fatalities are also significantly down. Public fatalities have shown no significant change.

In the last three years, and in five of the last 10 years, there have been no fatalities to passengers in train accidents. The moving average number of train accidents resulting in passenger or workforce fatalities has fallen by 75% since 1950, and is currently less than one a year.

These are excellent figures, superb figures, and it is just a shame that, because they are good news, they hit no headlines. Because the rail system in Great Britain carries around 24,000 trains a day with trailing loads of up to 1000 tonnes: they travel at speeds of up to 200 km/h and are powered by either high-voltage electricity or flammable diesel fuel.

They are driven, controlled and signalled by fallible human beings. Several stations see more passengers than Heathrow Airport.

And yet no passenger has been killed in a train accident for three years: there were no such fatalities in half of the last 10 years.

Not only is that good news, it is a high tribute to the excellence of our rail system - all of it. Managers, workforce, maintainers, everyone involved.

The report can be found on RSSB's web-site, www.rssb.co.uk.

I have always known that the acronym for an official Notice to Airmen is NOTAM.

I've just come across the acronym for notices specifically about snow on airfields - the Snow Notice to Airmen. It's a SNOWTAM.

No, I don't mean exponentials - as a mere economist, I can just about manage them!

It just that, in writing a report, they will typically write 'The system needs 28 no. point ends' when it actually needs 28 point ends.

There was an example in a magazine I was reading today - a building was being protected from earthquakes by 'using 292 nos. pendulum seismic isolators'.

This seems odd. Can some engineer - or some teacher of engineers - tell me what the rationale is, please?