## 2 Materials and Methods
### Current Status of the Issue  
The analysis of the current situation is focused on the analysis and characteristics of rail crossings, in particular in European countries. It is very important to point out current trends and statistics.  
According to the European Railway Agency (ERA), there were 114,580 rail crossings in 28 European countries, of which, 47% were unsecured in 2015. Since 2010 number, passive crossings have decreased by 4% per year, at this rate, their amount will decrease by 2030 by half at the most. Within the EU, there are, on average, 5 km per track and 5 rail crossings, but this value varies considerably between countries. Sweden, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary have a high density of crossings per kilometer of tracks (up to 75 per 100 km). Conversely, Bulgaria and Spain can be classified as countries with the lowest density of rail crossings (25 per 100 km) [30].  
In general, the number of rail crossings has decreased in recent years in most \"ERA countries\". The largest percentage decrease in the observed period was recorded in Denmark (25%) followed by Sweden (down 21%) and Portugal (down 20%). The number of rail crossings decreased the least in the Czech Republic (only by 2%) and Croatia (decrease of 0.4%). There was also the opposite trend-the number of rail crossings increased in six countries (Spain, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Latvia). The information on the percentage change in the number of rail crossings in ERA countries between 2011 and 2021 is shown in Figure 2[30].  
Figure 2: Percentage change in the number of rail crossings in ERA countries between 2011 and 2021 [30].  
The development of the number of passive and active rail crossings in ERA countries in absolute terms is mentioned in Figure 3. These statistics show that the country with the highest number of rail crossings is France, and the country with the lowest number of rail crossings is Luxembourg.  
Regarding the analysis of the number of rail crossings in particular ERA countries, the density of rail crossings is also a very important indicator. There has been a trend in the past to build many rail crossings, especially on regional railway lines in most countries [30].  
The Czech Republic is one of the EU countries with the highest number of rail crossings. This is also given by the fact that the Czech Republic has a railway network with the most density in the EU. Table 1 contains exact actual data of the rail crossings current number on the Czech Republic railway network including specification of type [31].  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l} \hline \hline
**Rail Crossing Type** & **Amount** \\
**Total Number of Rail Crossing** & **7734** \\ Rail crossing secured only by a warning cross & 3486 \\ Crossing secured by a rail crossing security device & 4248 \\
**Crossing secured by the traffic lights** & 3974 \\ Barrier rail crossing & 1611 \\ Barrier-free rail crossing & 2363 \\
**Crossing secured by a mechanical rail crossing** & **265** \\
**safety device** & 47 \\ Rail crossing operated locally & 218 \\ Rail crossing operated in combination & 0 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Rail crossing numbers according to the types in the Czech Republic [31].  
Figure 3: Number of rail crossings in the ERA infrastructure managers according to the type of rail crossing [30].  
This fact causes the choice of the Czech railway network for the case study on the selected rail crossing [31].