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Malda, India: Failed truck struck by train, no injuries reported

The driver and a passenger travelling on a loaded truck which stalled on a level crossing were able to evacuate the vehicle before it was hit by an express passenger train. The collision occurred on an unmanned level crossing between Samsi and Malda, West Bengal, India during the early evening of February 26th, 2010.

Although the truck was loaded with bricks and there was damage to the locomotive, no injuries have been reported to those travelling on the train.

(February 27th, 2010)

Motosu, Japan: Train and bus in crossing collision

A late evening collision between a train and an in-service bus on February 24th, 2010 was fortunately one that didn’t result in injuries to other than the pride of the bus driver. The initial investigation has concluded that the bus driver entered the Munenori Hakusan level crossing in Motosu when the level crossing was closed to road traffic.

(February 25th, 2010)

India’s Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee, has presented the Railway Budget for 2010-2011 which includes a commitment to address level crossing risk on the national rail system. The new budget contains a commitment to man a further 1,000 level crossing during the budget year. However, more significantly the Minister announced that over the next five years, all the presently unmanned level crossing will be staffed.

(February 24th, 2010)

Narakatiaganj, India: Children playing, 2 killed on level crossing

Two children were killed when they were struck by a train on an unmanned level crossing near Narakatiaganj, Bihar. The accident which occurred during the evening of February 22nd, 2010 has been said by witnesses to have occurred because a group of children who were playing on and around the level crossing were not aware of an approaching train.

(February 23rd, 2010)

Over the last 20 years, 35 lives have been lost on the level crossing in Jugsalai, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. The people of Jugsalai, which is a town of some 100,000, have raised the issue of an over-bridge repeatedly since the early 1980s. However, to date, politicians and railway authorities have not been receptive of the case for the bridge and elimination of the level crossing.

Although the level crossing is protected, there is endemic abuse of the crossing because of the extended delay to motorists and pedestrians occasioned by 108 trains a day. Residents say that it is not unusual to have to wait for 30 minutes before road traffic can resume for a few minutes before the next train is scheduled.

(February 23rd, 2010)

In most jurisdictions new railway lines are constructed without any level crossings and total grade separation between road and rail. However, this is not the case in Bangladesh where the 98 km long line between Bangabandhu Bridge and Joydevpur opened in 2003 with 81 level crossings. Over the last seven years the number of level crossings has increased to 97 of which 75 are unmanned.

Calls for level crossings to be upgraded to staffed status are widespread. However, Bangladesh Railways isn’t funded to systematically staff presently unmanned crossings with the result that five level crossings have attendants funded locally because it is clearly a priority of the communities in which they sit.

A second issue is that the wages paid to crossing keepers are so low (BDT80 = GB£0.75 per day) that it is difficult to recruit and retain competent staff. At these crossings there is evidence of duties not being performed as they should be with gates being left open, perhaps because the crossing attendant is asleep. This was the case in April 2008 when 17 people were killed when the minibus in which they were travelling was hit by a train at the Rajabari level crossing in Tangail. Further fatal accidents in February 2009 saw a further five people lose their lives in collisions with road vehicles on level crossings

(February 23rd, 2010)

A Japanese motorist fell asleep in his car. However, he was asleep on a level crossing in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture. This incident in the small hours of the morning followed a previous police involvement a short while before the sleeping motorist had brought the railway to a stand. Fortunately, for the sleeping motorist an alarm was raised and an approaching freight train was stopped by signals short of the level crossing.

When asked to explain what was going on, the motorist responded saying that he didn’t know as he had been asleep at the time!

(February 22nd, 2010)

The driver of a minibus and two pedestrians were injured when a train collided with the minibus, knocking it onto the pedestrians. The accident occurred at the Mohakali level crossing in Dhaka during the evening of February 19th, 2010.

Reports attributed to witnesses say that the level crossing attendant lifted the level crossing barriers so that road traffic could resume after the passage of a train but before a second train approaching from the opposite direction had reached the level crossing.

(February 20th, 2010)

Dhampur, India: Bypassing the barrier costs two lives

Despite advice from the level crossing keeper, two young men died when they by-passed the barrier closing the road and proceeded into the path of an express train. The two who died were riding a motorcycle when they sought to circumvent the manned level crossing close to the railway station in Dhampur, Uttar Pradesh. The accident happened during the afternoon of February 13th, 2010.

(February 15th, 2010)

The Western Railway of India project to rebuild and expand their Bandra Terminus station in Mumbai, Maharashtra, includes an important grade separation solution to a long-standing level crossing issue.

The new road-over-rail bridge will enable the expansion of the station and the introduction of more long distance passenger train services to meet growing demand. The 800 metre-long over-bridge will be across the throat of Bandra Terminus station and will reduce considerably road traffic congestion around the terminus.

(February 15th, 2010)

The need for a grade separated solution to address the considerable disruption to the local community in Mahakalipadpu, near Jeppu, Mangalore, Karnataka. The issue for the community isn’t just the number of trains each day but the time that the road is closed for each of them. Some of the 42 trains each day can easily cause the levl crossing to be closed to road for 15 minutes at a time. A key issue for local politicians and the community they represent is the difficulty the extended level crossing closures pose to emergence service response times to more than 1,500 families.

A road-under-rail bridge was first proposed in 1998 since when the frequency of both trains and volume of road traffic have increased.

(February 13th, 2010)

Police in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, have been told that an incident in which three teenagers endangered railway and their own safety on a level crossing was a function of the stresses brought on by high school examinations. The incident occurred during the afternoon of February 11th, 2010 when a train hit a bicycle on a level crossing on the JR Joetsu Line.

(February 12th, 2010)

Residents of Doddamandiganahalli, Hassan, Karnataka are very pleased that the level crossing near the village is being upgraded. However, the decision to upgrade the crossing to staffed status with barriers has only come about by direct action which followed the death of a man on the level crossing on February 6th, 2010.

The direct action involved residents of Doddamandiganahalli blocking National Highway 48 and the railway for more than two hours, This action caused railway officials to go to the level crossing and promise residents that quick action would be taken as soon as possible.

(February 11th, 2010)

Basail, Bangladesh: Four killed in collision with minibus

Four people died and a further three were injured when the minibus in which they were travelling was hit by a train. The accident occurred at Basail in Tangail District some 100 km from Dacca. The accident occurred at an unmanned level crossing on February 9th, 2010.

(February 10th, 2010)

Against a background of an increasing number of fatalities on level crossings across India, the Pune Division of India’s Central Railway is mounting a safety awareness drive. The campaign organised by the Divisional Safety Manager is focused on the arrangements for the safe use of the 61 unmanned level crossings on Pune Division tracks. Of lesser concern are the 128 manned crossings to be found on the Division.

(February 10th, 2010)

Work on an over-bridge to replace the manned level crossing on the Tenkasi–Madurai highway in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, has begun. The 680-metre-long over-bridge will be completed in about 18 months at a cost of INR245m. The funding of this project is being shared between the Tamil Nadu State Government and Indian Central Government.

(February 5th, 2010)

India’s Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee has proposed an increase in special safety funding over the years through to 2020. At INR20 billion this would represent an increase of INR3 billion on the special funding provided since 2003 with a currently funded end date of 2013. To date the Indian Government has funded INR12 billion with INR5 billion raised by a surcharge on rail fares.

To date the special funding has been used to secure improved safety through a reduction in derailments, collisions, level crossing accidents and fires.

(February 4th, 2010)

Two people were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling ploughed through lowered level crossing barriers into the path of a train on which two people received minor injuries. The collision, which occurred late in the evening of February 1st, 2010, was at a protected level crossing in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. The driver of the car was a local person believed to have been familiar with the highway layout and the level crossing.

(February 2nd, 2010)

A motorist was killed and his passengers injured when the car in which they were travelling was hit by a locomotive on a level crossing in Sumgayit (sumqavit), Azerbaijan. The accident was on a level crossing some 40 km north of Baku on the main highway linking Baku (Baki) with Guba. The collision occurred at approximately 09.30 on February 2nd, 2010.

(February 2nd, 2010)