Blood on the railway tracks

[PeteC]

Blood on the railway tracks

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SPECIAL REPORT: 297 people have been killed in six years as unauthorised crossings flourish across the country

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/3 ... way-tracks

Published: 12 Mar 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Accidents at railway crossings are a persistent problem, with a succession of governments failing to make many inroads into the growing number of fatalies they cause.

Many accidents at railway crossings happen at unauthorised crossings that locals open at will as shortcuts, and authorised crossings which lack safety barriers.

The country's railway lines stretch more than 4,000km.

Over the past six years, 887 accidents have been reported at railway crossings, with 979 people injured and 297 killed.

The latest accident occurred on March 3 in Kanchanaburi when a train crashed into a passenger van at a crossing in Muang district, injuring six female doctors who were travelling to the province to make merit.

The accident happened only six days after a train hit a tourist passenger van in Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi, killing one person and injuring 11.

In January alone, 10 accidents happened at crossings in which five people were killed and 18 injured.

There are 562 unauthorised railway crossings.

Accidents also sometimes happen at authorised railway crossings because not all the 1,938 proper crossings are equipped with efficient barriers.

Accidents also take place at crossings known for physical aspects which make them hard to spot from the road.

They include the Hat Yai-Padang Besar track that runs parallel to Kanchanavanit Road and intersects with dozens of other roads, including those which provide access to housing estates.

The crossings on the Hat Yai-Padang Besar track do not have any warning signs or signals and some crossings are obscured from sight by slopes or bushes for someone approaching on the road.

Only locals know where such crossings are and when trains are coming. Accidents usually happen when outsiders attempt to cross them.

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) staff complain the problem remains insoluble because budgets to boost safety at railway crossings are always limited while unauthorised crossings frequently emerge.

SRT governor Prapat Chongsanguan says he will try harder to persuade the government to spend more money on fixing the problem.

"Today my policy is to prioritise public safety. People's lives must not be put in jeopardy," he said.

"We must have budgets and problems must be solved urgently. I will fight for what is necessary."

More than 80% of the accidents took place at unauthorised crossings or authorised crossings which lack barriers, he said.

Between October last year and January this year, a total of 31 accidents at crossings were reported _ 26 of them at unauthorised crossings or authorised crossings without barriers.

Mr Prapat said the state must build overpasses or underpasses at all railway crossings. Low road-traffic volumes in local areas must not discourage the investment and the government must consider the investment as a long-term solution. He prefers overpasses because they are cheaper than underpasses.

Pending construction, Mr Prapat said barriers must be urgently installed at existing railway crossings and the SRT must try to contain the number of unauthorised crossings.

If that is impractical, the SRT will ask the Interior Ministry to order all local administration organisations to report their plans to build crossings in advance so the SRT can provide them with safety equipment.

"Unauthorised crossings can always happen where railway tracks pass communities. Influential figures in localities or communities can open them. It is difficult to control or close them.

"Officials face villagers' opposition in many areas. Sometimes SRT officials are attacked when they attempt to close them with the result that now they do not dare to do so," Mr Prapat said.

[Bristolian]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... -the-rails

Train safety is well and truly off the rails

If you think the number 297 is no cause for alarm, maybe it's time to think again. It's the number of deaths in railway accidents in Thailand which has totalled 887 in six years.

That means more than 50 deaths a year, or more than four deaths a month. And there were nearly 1,000 injuries in the course of those six years.

There is no doubt that many of the dead were breadwinners of the family and the losses must be enormous, not only for each individual family, but also for the country's economy.

Some may argue that this is a case of ill fate and recklessness on the part of drivers since we know very well that a large number of Thai drivers of all manner of vehicles are careless lunatics and it's likely many of them were among those who perished in the railway accidents.

But that may not be the case given the fact that more than 80% of the crashes occurred at "unauthorised crossings" _ meaning rail crossings that have had roads build across them which the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has not approved _ which total 562, as well as some authorised crossings which lack standard barriers; and have no warning signs or signals.

Worse, some are at locations with a slope, a curve or a bush which hinders the vision of motorists. This can be a "deathtrap" for non-locals.

Years ago, a senior colleague of mine had a near-miss experience with a train. She was travelling in a car driven by her brother in a southern province. As they encountered a curve, they had no idea a crossing was just metres ahead. There was no warning sign. And I believe there still isn't a warning sign there.

SRT governor Prapat Chongsanguan acknowledges the problem but still cannot come up with a solution.

He says his obstacle is a "lack of budget", a classic excuse for many state agencies.

As the SRT big boss, Mr Prapat tends to think big. He has envisaged overpasses and underpasses for the 4,000 kilometres of railway as a way out of the problem and that, of course, requires a lot of money from the state coffers _ and, of course, time.

Can we afford to wait? I think not.

We cannot afford to allow the SRT to be this irresponsible anymore.

The SRT must do everything it can to ensure public safety _ actions that are practical and not expensive.

Now that everybody is talking about high-speed trains, it's unlikely Mr Prapat will get what he wants.

The SRT cannot avoid responsibility by simply saying it has no money. What is needed for a solution is not money but a mindset.

We would appreciate it if the SRT talked to local administration agencies to find ways to work together. How about starting with locating the "blind spots" or those areas where accidents occur frequently.

Due to decentralisation, these agencies have budgets of their own.

Our demand is that all railway crossings must have proper signs or flashing signals to warn motorists of what lies ahead.

Unquestionably, Thailand's train service contains some problems that epitomise our underdeveloped infrastructure and efficiency _ run-down carriages, poor hygiene, unreliability in terms of punctuality. On top of that are these kinds of accidents which can be prevented _ if we try harder.

Of course, safe driving habits are also important. The land transportation department should find ways to make safe driving practices a deciding factor in its driving exam. Given the country's high accident rate, with high fatalities each year, driving exams should look further than driving ability. Instead, it's driving responsibly that counts.

Some leading organisations have launched "white" road projects that aim to curb accidents. Isn't it time the SRT thought of a "white" railroad?

And again, this is not just about money. It's about mindset. The right one.

[Frank Hovis]

That's about the same level of safety as the UK according to this, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... lucky.html

[margaretcarnes]

Is 'train safety' actually the issue? Or is this another Thai way - like the bus always has the accident, not the driver!
To be honest I'm a bit surprised that the death toll is about 4 a month. I would have hazarded a guess at more than that - and most, I assume, are of people using the rail crossings.
The main difference with the accidents in Thailand, compared with say the UK, will probably be that the rail crossings in Thailand are inadequate in many ways. In the UK there is an element of crossing misuse, but plenty of suicides. At least the Bangkok subway has been able to build in safeguards against that from day one, unlike the London Underground.
But reading a previous article last week about rail crossings in Thailand I was surprised to see that many are un-authorised. On reflection maybe I shouldn't be. In a country where it is acceptable to have a market on a railway line what's the big deal if villagers need to create a short cut for example? Except that they know it's there and don't give a s..t if strangers to the area don't.
So two issues for the SRT to address. To get the legal crossings sorted and safe, as we have said many times before. And to somehow stop the unauthorised crossings. Hopefully they might get somewhere with the legal crossings, mind set and funding permitting. (So there's a big 'if' to start with.) I doubt they will get far with the unauthorised ones somehow. And whatever is done there will still be drivers who try to beat the lights and barriers. Because they can.

[johnnyk]

If you are awake at all you can feel the damn thing rumble. Too many think it can't happen to me and take stupid risks.

[Takiap]

I think I might have mentioned this before, but on two occasions I've seen the guarded crossing on soi 6 unmanned when a train has approached. Fortunately on both occasions, the drivers realized something was wrong and managed to stop before the actually reached the crossing, at which point they began sounding the horn furiously until eventually the guy arrived and lowered the booms. As is to be expected, everyone simply ignored the trains and carried on crossing because the trains had stopped, although they were inching forward.

On both occasions, there could have been fatalities, which surely could e avoided by installing automatic barriers, and to hell with any chance takers that get caught in the middle.

Anyway, we were reading similar posts to this years ago already, and not a thing has changed.


On a slightly different note........I'm thoroughly enjoying my Indian food extravaganza in Malaysia right now, but will report back if we hit any cars on my way back to LOS on the train next week.

[deepee]

Just had some Thai friends come down on a train from C.M last week , reckoned it was the worst trip they have ever had as their second carriage was rolling all over the place, so bad some foreign backpackers had to get off the thing.When my nephew collected them he said the train had " no head", instead the engine was pushing the four carriages from behind!
Can only imagine the list of possible disasters that could have come out of this one, the obvious one of no leading engine so no light as it approached crossings.

[Homer]

Driving too fast for conditions is also called 'overdriving'. If one doesn't have the time and/or space to evade an object, then one is overdriving. People overdrive in poor visibility, when they're not paying attention, when they're impaired, when they don't know stopping distances for a given speed or when they think the laws of physics don't apply to them.

This accident was not caused by a speed bump, it was caused by overdriving:



When a train leaves the rails, that's a train safety issue. When someone gets in front of a moving train, that's another example of Darwin was right.

[charlesh]

Been watching too many Evil Knievel films no doubt. Surprised the white uniform and bells and whistles weren't sufficient for him to glide over the obstacle ha, ha.
Have to agree that many of the train safety issues ie deaths are due to a devil may care attitude IMO to Thai drivers who think they are indestructible and that rules don't apply to them . They have very high Risk ignorance behaviours.
And yes the rail system has deteriorated for years - not surprising considering that most Thais don't seem to pay Tax or for tickets!

[margaretcarnes]

But in many ways the SRT does a very good job, when you consider the sheer size of the country, the number of places it serves, and the number of sleeper services.
It must be a logistical nightmare, and yes there are delays - mainly IMO going North from HH, which considering the distance most of the trains have already covered before they get there is hardly surprising. But I've rarely known much of a delay leaving Bangkok, and considering the age of much of the rolling stock the sleeper trains I've found to be very good.
Also you can pay more for 1st class from HH to Bangkok and have a very comfy trip - apart from the excessive aircon!
Given the record of Network Rail in the UK for getting some track back in operation following a landslip this winter, the SRT has to get some credit for the speed with which the service North out of Bangkok was restored during the floods of November/ December 2011.

[Pleng]

You're right... the trains normally leave Bangkok on time. Then sit for about half an hour just past the platform before going any further

[PeteC]

Here's another recent pick-up vs choo-choo, again in Kanchanaburi. There seems to be many there. I'm guessing that we only see perhaps 1 in 10?...of these stories published. Pete

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/3 ... rain-crash

"Pickup driver says amulet saved him......"

[Big Boy]

How on Earth could that have happened? After all, the truck driver did look to his left Maybe his mobile phone stopped him looking right.

Clearly the State Railway of Thailand are at fault by letting trains travel in both directions over that crossing

[Brit Jim]

These figures are not good!

I just wandered where the hotspots are in HH?

Always handy to know?

[bsdk1960]

These figures are not good!

I just wandered where the hotspots are in HH?

Always handy to know?

everywhere you can cross the trail.