Nghe An: 185 illegal railway crossings

(Baonghean.vn) - The existence of illegal level crossings is one of the causes of railway accidents that have occurred in recent times.

Nghe An province currently has two railway lines with a total length of 126 km. Of which, the North-South railway line is 99.5 km long, passing through Hoang Mai town, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan districts and Vinh city. There are currently 62 legal level crossings and 185 illegal level crossings, mainly opened by local people.

Many residential roads intersecting railways pose a potential risk of traffic accidents (Photo taken at the intersection in Nghi Yen commune, Nghi Loc), photo by Nguyet Minh

The local railway line is 30.5km long (starting point at km 0 Cau Giat town, Quynh Luu district, ending point at km 30+500 Thai Hoa town) mainly serving the transportation of raw materials and products between mountainous districts to the lowlands. There are 17 level crossings and 38 residential roads on the line.

According to the assessment of the authorities, the existence of many residential level crossings with railways, especially on the North-South railway line, there are many intersections that are obscured by visibility, many sections parallel to National Highway 1, and densely populated areas, so there is a potential risk of traffic accidents. Because in reality, people's awareness of traffic participation when passing through intersections between roads and railways is still limited. Most traffic accidents occur due to vehicles not observing, some cases intentionally overtaking when the train is approaching.

The existence of illegal level crossings and poor public awareness are among the causes of railway accidents, photo by Nguyet Minh

While funding has not been mobilized to build service roads and eliminate illegal level crossings, in 2015, to ensure traffic safety, the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee installed additional train warning signs on 57 residential roads and installed 4 lights. However, the number of railway accidents is still increasing.

Scene of the railway accident through Dien Hong commune (Dien Chau (April 2016).

Recently, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Letter No. 2607/UBND.NC dated April 22, 2016 requesting the Ministry of Transport to direct the Vietnam Railway Corporation and the Vietnam Railway Authority to upgrade the legal level crossing (without barriers or fences) into an automatic warning level crossing and install automatic barriers. Connect automatic traffic signals for road and railway at the intersection of Quan Banh and Quan Hanh.

There are still many intersections between the level crossing and the railway without barriers, and the lights and signs are old and blurry; making it difficult to see when crossing the road (Photo taken at Hamlet 18B, Nghi Kim, Vinh City).

Mobilize funds to handle slope leveling and curve opening at some points after the National Highway 1A upgrade project is put into use. Assign the transport sector to direct road traffic management units to add speed bumps, signs, and stop lines on roads at both ends of road-railway intersections. Districts, cities, and towns with railways passing through coordinate with railway management units to regularly clear sight lines for both railways and roads.

Despite the signal from the railway staff, students still crossed the railway tracks when the train was about to arrive, photo taken in Quynh Thien ward (Hoang Mai town), photo by Thanh Thuy

Particularly for Hoang Mai town: there is a project to build a frontage road on the west side of National Highway 1 from km 240+350 to km 224+210 through the area. It is requested that the competent authorities urgently carry out compensation and site clearance work and coordinate with the investor to speed up the construction progress of the frontage road./.

PV