A mini-van that was hit by a train at a crossing near the Ghenh Bridge in Dong Nai Province (Photo: VNA). Hanoi, (VNA) - Installing speed bumps andincreasing the number of guards at rail crossings are among measures to reducethe number of railway accidents.
The measures wereproposed at a meeting held on February 6 bythe Transport Ministry following a sharp increase in the number of railwayaccidents during the week-long Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday that endedlast week.
The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VR) reported that in justseven days (January 26 to February 1) eight railway accidents claimed six livesand injured 11. This was an increase of 60 percent in the number of accidents,100 percent in fatalities and 175 percent in the number of injured compared tothe holiday last year.
From January 1 to February 4, there were 43 railway accidentsnationwide in which 19 people died and 38 were injured.
Officials attending the meeting urged that speed bumps areinstalled at all rail crossings by the end of year, and to increase the numberof guards at particularly accident-prone crossings.
Vu Ta Tung, director of VRC, said localities should assignpeople to guard such areas round-the-clock, otherwise they would become a“trap”.
“People often assume that there are always people guardingcrossings. When there is no one there, they will relax and assume that there isno train coming, which can lead to accidents,” Tung said.
Accordingto Tung, 20 provinces with rail routes have organised to have guards at 183accident hotspots using provincial budget funds. However, 13 other provinceshave not done so.
Khuong TheDuy, deputy head of the Vietnam Nam Railway Authority, pointed out that someprovinces like Yen Bai, Quang Nam and Thai Nguyen “have done almost nothing” onthis issue due to financial difficulties.
In othercases, although provinces have assigned guards at existing crossings, they havefailed to stop local residents from illegally setting up new ones.
“Forexample, there were 26 new crossings illegally opened by local residents in Ha Namprovince in 2016,” he said.
Acknowledgingthe complexity and severity of railway accidents during the recent Tet holiday, Deputy Minister ofTransport Nguyen Ngoc Dong asked VR to find concrete solutions for eachaccident hotspot and route with high traffic flow.
He alsoasked VR to work with localities and reach agreements on guarding levelcrossings.
Besides,it should also implement technical solutions like installing convex mirrors,increasing intensity of light signals in locomotives and crossings to make themmore noticeable, he said.
“In thelong term, measures should be taken to eliminate illegal crossings, deviceslike automatic barriers should be added to prevent accidents, and the contentrelated to railway traffic in car driving manuals and testing programmes,especially for commercial drivers, should be enhanced,” he said.-VNA
The measures wereproposed at a meeting held on February 6 bythe Transport Ministry following a sharp increase in the number of railwayaccidents during the week-long Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday that endedlast week.
The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VR) reported that in justseven days (January 26 to February 1) eight railway accidents claimed six livesand injured 11. This was an increase of 60 percent in the number of accidents,100 percent in fatalities and 175 percent in the number of injured compared tothe holiday last year.
From January 1 to February 4, there were 43 railway accidentsnationwide in which 19 people died and 38 were injured.
Officials attending the meeting urged that speed bumps areinstalled at all rail crossings by the end of year, and to increase the numberof guards at particularly accident-prone crossings.
Vu Ta Tung, director of VRC, said localities should assignpeople to guard such areas round-the-clock, otherwise they would become a“trap”.
“People often assume that there are always people guardingcrossings. When there is no one there, they will relax and assume that there isno train coming, which can lead to accidents,” Tung said.
Accordingto Tung, 20 provinces with rail routes have organised to have guards at 183accident hotspots using provincial budget funds. However, 13 other provinceshave not done so.
Khuong TheDuy, deputy head of the Vietnam Nam Railway Authority, pointed out that someprovinces like Yen Bai, Quang Nam and Thai Nguyen “have done almost nothing” onthis issue due to financial difficulties.
In othercases, although provinces have assigned guards at existing crossings, they havefailed to stop local residents from illegally setting up new ones.
“Forexample, there were 26 new crossings illegally opened by local residents in Ha Namprovince in 2016,” he said.
Acknowledgingthe complexity and severity of railway accidents during the recent Tet holiday, Deputy Minister ofTransport Nguyen Ngoc Dong asked VR to find concrete solutions for eachaccident hotspot and route with high traffic flow.
He alsoasked VR to work with localities and reach agreements on guarding levelcrossings.
Besides,it should also implement technical solutions like installing convex mirrors,increasing intensity of light signals in locomotives and crossings to make themmore noticeable, he said.
“In thelong term, measures should be taken to eliminate illegal crossings, deviceslike automatic barriers should be added to prevent accidents, and the contentrelated to railway traffic in car driving manuals and testing programmes,especially for commercial drivers, should be enhanced,” he said.-VNA
VNA
