page_title: Railway accidents in Vietnam
section_title: Collisions at level crossings
hierarchical_section_title: Railway accidents in Vietnam / Types of accidents / Collisions at level crossings
caption_attribution_description: English: An unprotected level crossing in Hoa Vang District, Da Nang, Vietnam. Signs on either side of the path warn travellers to watch for approaching trains.
context_page_description: Railway accidents in Vietnam are common. In 2010, 451 railway accidents were reported across the country's railway network, having caused 211 deaths and 284 injuries. A joint Japanese-Vietnamese evaluation team reported in 2007 that the poor state of railway infrastructure was the fundamental cause for most railway accidents, of which the most common types were train crashes against vehicles and persons, especially at illegal level crossings; derailments caused by failure to decrease speed were also noted as a common cause of accidents. As of 2010, around 90% of all railway accidents occurred at level crossings without safety fences, and most were said to have been caused by motorists failing to follow traffic safety laws.
  Along with recent efforts aimed at infrastructure rehabilitation, the recent adoption of safety measures by national railway operator Vietnam Railways has led to a decline in railway accidents.
context_section_description: Railway accidents in Vietnam occur mainly at unprotected or unauthorized level crossings; as of 2010, around 90% of all accidents were reported to occur at level crossings without safety fences. A study carried out by Vietnam Railways in 2010 noted that, out of 5,400 level crossings in Vietnam, only 750 (or 14%) were manned or had alarm systems to signal the arrival of trains. Along the North–South Railway line, 3,650 level crossings were counted, 3,000 (or 82%) of which had no barriers, alarm systems or guards. The city of Hanoi, along with the provinces of Nghệ An, Khánh Hòa and Đồng Nai have the highest density of road-rail crossings.
  While on a visit to Vietnam to evaluate infrastructure development projects sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), researcher A. Maria Toyoda noted "There are numerous safety issues with level crossings, residences right up against the tracks, and other areas of activity that are dangerously close ... People will cross the tracks at great risk, dodging in front of the train. ...usually, an accident occurs every day." In the first 10 months of 2009, 431 railway accidents reportedly took place throughout Vietnam, causing 166 casualties and injuring 319 people.
caption: An unprotected level crossing near Da Nang.
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 3GS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "4.1", "Image DateTime": "2010:09:11 08:59:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "188", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "652", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11074", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/903", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:09:11 08:59:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:09:11 08:59:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4173/425", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4281/1441", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF Flash": "No flash function", "EXIF FocalLength": "77/20", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1023, 767, 614, 614]", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft"}