National Assembly Chairman: Who is responsible for 4,000 illegal level crossings?

“The law must be strict. Wherever illegal roads are opened, the commune and district leaders must be disciplined immediately. If they really have to be opened, the State must invest.”

This morning (March 15), the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on a number of major issues with different opinions in the draft Law on Railways (amended).

Illegal civil level crossings are rampant

Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Vu Anh Minh - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Railway Corporation said that there are currently 5,726 level crossings and residential paths, of which 1,511 are legal. Regarding 4,211 residential paths, according to the provisions of the Railway Law, these are illegal level crossings, not granted by competent authorities and most of them have no warnings.

“Recently, under pressure from traffic accidents, Vietnam Railways Corporation has worked with localities to check black spots, focus on temporary guards, but cannot install warning signs and move towards eliminating them,” said Mr. Minh.

Regarding traffic safety issues related to civil level crossings, Chairwoman of the Judicial Committee Le Thi Nga suggested that the Ministry of Transport review how many major accidents have occurred at road-railway intersections in the past 5 years, at which intersections, who was responsible, and which organizations and individuals have been handled, in order to review regulations on the responsibilities of the government and the railway industry.

Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia: Opening a level crossing for people is very arbitrary, many localities do not understand.

Reporting further at the discussion session, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia said that there have been many tragic traffic accidents recently. The law clearly stipulates that residential routes are directly managed by localities. When there is a need to open a level crossing, the Railway Corporation will respond in accordance with regulations without any difficulty. However, recently, the opening of residential level crossings has been very arbitrary, and many localities do not understand.

“The law will also clarify the responsibility of localities. It is impossible to just open a level crossing like this, making many train drivers very stressed. Many localities have proposed to build a service road, which is very reasonable, but the level crossing is still arbitrary. Sometimes people just go through people's doors,” said Mr. Truong Quang Nghia, citing the current situation.

From another perspective, Chairman of the Law Committee Nguyen Khac Dinh noted: “It is necessary to determine which parts of the railway are encroached upon and which are not encroached upon to ensure the rights of the people. The new road must definitely not be encroached upon by the people, it must be for the people to use. Regarding the solution, you must build a different level or a service road but it must be close, not like on the Nhat Tan - Noi Bai expressway, people said that in the past, buffaloes were led straight to the fields, but now they have to go around for several kilometers.”

“The law must be strict, we can’t just prohibit it but who can we punish? It’s hard to deal with more than 4,000 illegal level crossings without strict sanctions,” said National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, emphasizing that the law must stipulate the responsibility not only of the transport sector but also of the locality where the railway passes.

“Wherever there is an illegal road opening, which is a violation of the law and causes an accident, responsibility must be considered. The law must be strict, and where the government illegally opens a road, the commune chairman and district chairman must be disciplined immediately. If there is a real need to open a road, the State must invest,” said the National Assembly Chairman.

Breakthrough policy for railways

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, Mr. Phan Xuan Dung, said that many National Assembly deputies believe that the Draft Law needs to stipulate more clearly, fully and have a breakthrough nature for the railway development policy, especially in terms of investment, to help the railway soon escape from its current backward and weak state.

Some opinions of National Assembly deputies suggested that there should be a strong and drastic policy to develop the railway industry, an industry that was invested in the most modern type in Southeast Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, but has now fallen far behind; it is necessary to develop each type of railway in the transport system to create a synchronous, sustainable, safe, effective railway transport system with little negative impact on the environment, ensuring national defense and security goals and meeting international integration requirements.

The Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee has reviewed and revised the regulations in the direction of the State prioritizing resources to invest in the development, maintenance and protection of national railway infrastructure (KCHTĐS) and urban railways according to the approved railway transport development plan, as well as encouraging, supporting, facilitating and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of domestic and foreign organizations and individuals investing and doing business in railways...

The National Assembly Chairman emphasized the need for a breakthrough policy for the railway industry.

Considering this an opportunity for the railway industry to develop, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan noted that the law must be enacted to resolve the shortcomings of the railway transport industry and its development, and must create a new breakthrough in legal policies so that railways in the next 5 to 10 years will become one of the main forms of transport.

"If we determine that, investment must change, from medium-term investment in this period, not waiting for another 5 years" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan emphasized, because in the past, the investment level for railways was very low.

However, regarding regulations on incentives and support, Chairman of the Law Committee Nguyen Khac Dinh cited many laws that have been and are being submitted, all of which mention specific policies and incentives from land to credit and tax, requiring a huge budget.

“Thus, the subsidy ideology is starting to return, while the Investment Law, Enterprise Law or Tax Law already exist. Even in those laws, there are broader regulations on incentives, while these laws return to specific regulations. Therefore, we need to calculate more or else there will be overlaps” - Mr. Dinh analyzed and suggested that any incentive policies must be clearly stated.

Opinions in the National Assembly Standing Committee also said that it is necessary to review to ensure consistency in the legal system and to be able to refer to the highest preferential policies in related laws to promote the railway industry to develop to its full potential./.

According to VOV