Here are three deaths from Portland's MAX light rail in about the last 13 months.[1][2] And it's not a very big system.
There have been 34 deaths in just one portion of the light rail, in less than 30 years. A few are classified as suicide.[3]
There are some barriers and crossing gates, but MAX mostly runs alongside pedestrians and vehicles. It's up to the pedestrians to pay attention.
Edit: BTW I think that what we call "light rail" may be larger than what you consider a tram and what we call a "streetcar". A MAX car is about 28 meters long, a streetcar is about 20 meters long.[4]
There have been 34 deaths in just one portion of the light rail, in less than 30 years. A few are classified as suicide.[3]
There are some barriers and crossing gates, but MAX mostly runs alongside pedestrians and vehicles. It's up to the pedestrians to pay attention.
Edit: BTW I think that what we call "light rail" may be larger than what you consider a tram and what we call a "streetcar". A MAX car is about 28 meters long, a streetcar is about 20 meters long.[4]
[1] http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2014/08/max_tr...
[2] http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/12/man_str...
[3]http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/06/man_kil...
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar#Compatibilit...