Japan: JR West marches on with risk reduction programme

JR West like many other railway administrations believes that the best level crossing is one that has been eliminated. However, in a populous country like Japan, this isn’t always possible. As a result, JR West has focused on upgrading protection at the thousands of level crossings which are unlikely to be closed.

Japan: Blue lighting reduces risk of intentional fatalities

A project in Japan which involved the installation of blue lighting of level crossings appears to be achieving good results in deterring those who are suicidal from taking their lives on the railway. The blue lighting is presently installed at a number of level crossings in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. The installation of the blue lighting on a three-year trial basis is intended to calm those approaching the railway with the intent of ending their life on JR Kyushu tracks.

This latest installation of ambient blue lighting follows earlier installations from 2006 on JR West and JR East.

It is now more than two years since India’s Southern Railway eliminated the Cocraine Basin Road level crossing in Chennai. However, the crossing was removed before the replacement flyover was completed. Indeed, work has still to start on the replacement overpass with the result that the former level crossing remains in use illicitly even though it is supposedly blocked to all road traffic.

That the former level crossing remains in use is largely an own goal on the part of the railway as their works to block the crossing with a barrier risng four inches above rail level are clearly ineffectual and do not conform with recognised good practice when eliminating level crossings. Now, attempts to cross with vehicles routinely get stuck as they attempt to cross and increase the risk of a collision.

Although land acquisition and preliminary works began in 2008, two of the affected parties successfully challenged the purchase of their land through the courts. This has led to all work on the road-over-rail bridge to coming to a halt while an appeal in a higher court takes place. So far, the delay to the bridge project exceeds two years.

This appears to be a case where retention of the level crossing pending bridge construction would have been a good idea. However, this would have required greater joined up thinking between the railway and city officials supposedly driving a single project to completion.

Faure, South Africa: “Jaws of life” needed after collision

South African rescue services needed to use the “jaws of life” to extricate a motorist trapped in a car that had been hit by a train. The collision occurred in Faure, Somerset West on a level crossing adjacent to highway R102.

The driver of a road-roller and seven train occupants were injured when an express train derailed as a result of a collision with the road-roller on an unmanned level crossing. The accident occurred on a level crossing between Bannikoppa and Bhanapur station, near Hubli on June 18th, 2010.

The derailment caused both locomotives, five passenger carriages and three other vehicles to derail despite the driver having applied the emergency brake about two hundred metres before the level crossing when it became clear that the road-roller was crossing in the path of the train.

A collision between a passenger train and a truck on a level crossing in Naganahalli, near Mysore, claimed the life of the truck driver and closed the main line between Mysore and Bangalore for several hours.

Additionally, three passengers on the train received minor injuries as a result of the collision which derailed the carriage behind the locomotive. This leading passenger carrying vehicle was damaged along its length and it was this that led to minor injury to three passengers

The force of the collision ejected the truck driver from the cab of his truck which was then dragged several hundred metres beyond the point of impact scattering wreckage as it went.

The accident which occurred during the afternoon of June 12th, 2010 involved a truck being used to carry materials associated with a doubling of the rail tracks. Thus it was an own goal for Indian Railways with the truck operating on their behalf.

Kishiwada, Japan: Cyclist comes a cropper on level crossing

Cyclists and level crossings is an issue concerning many working to reduce risk at level crossings as the roadway over a crossing, particularly when it is a skewed crossing, can so easily throw a cyclist off their bicycle. Although many of the incidents are seen by the rai authorities, there remains a real risk of a fatal outcome.

An incident in Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture is an example of a train driver being able to mitigate the potential consequences of a cyclist having fallen on a level crossing. In this case the driver saw the cyclist fall from his bike and applied the train’s brakes.

The cyclist ended up in a line-side ditch without major injury.
Even though there was no collision, this incident which occurred in the early morning of June 7th, 2010, delayed 65,000 passengers for up to 37 minutes.

Coimbatore, India: Seven killed in collision with bus on level crossing

Seven people died when the bus in which they were travelling was hot by a train on a level crossing in Idikarai, some 20km south of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. In addition, 15 people were injured in the collision on the unmanned passive level crossing which occurred on June 4th, 2010.

Both police and railway sources have said that the accident occurred because the bus driver failed to notice the approaching train. These sources have said that the bus accelerated over the crossing after it had become evident that a collision could not be avoided. It is further reported that the bus driver jumped clear of his vehicle moments before the collision from the scene of which he fled.

Gazipur, Bangladesh: Three killed, two injured in aito-rickshaw collision

Three people were killed and two others injured when the auto-rickshaw in which they were travelling was hit by a train on a level crossing in Gazipur District, some 37 km from Dhaka. The accident occurred on the morning of June 1st, 2010 and has been attributed to a lack of caution on the part of the rickshaw driver at a passive level crossing.

Accra, Ghana: Committee of Inquiry into level crossing accident

Ghana’s Ministry of Transport has launched a Committee of Inquiry into the collision between a passenger train and a bus on the Graphic Road level crossing on May 26th, 2010. The accident occurred when the bus entered the level crossing in a nose to tail queue of traffic. Fortunately, although the bus was badly damaged and the train derailed, there were no fatalities of life-threatening injuries.

The seven-member Committee of Inquiry draws on inputs from both road and rail sectors as well as a neutral perspective and is expected to submit a report within four weeks. One aspect of the committee’s work is to identify whether negligence was a factor leading to the accident. However, the principal objective is to identify root causes and to make recommendations to prevent a recurrence.