page_title: Railway accidents in Vietnam
section_title: Rehabilitation and development
hierarchical_section_title: Railway accidents in Vietnam / Prevention / Rehabilitation and development
caption_attribution_description: English: Workers dig up the road shoulder next to the North-South Railway line in Hoa Vang District, Da Nang, Vietnam.
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: The condition of railway infrastructure in Vietnam, although improving, is still poor enough overall to require rehabilitation. Rail transport only became a national priority for the Vietnamese government around the mid-1990s, at which point most of the railway network was severely degraded, having received only temporary repair from damages suffered during decades of war.
  From 1994 to 2005, a major bridge rehabilitation project took place on the North–South Railway line, with the Pacific Consultants International Group and Japan Transportation Consultants providing consultancy services. The overall project cost was JPY 11,020 million, or 18% less than the budgeted cost. The overall results of the project included a reduction in running hours from one end of the line to the other (from 36 hours in 1994 to 29 hours in 2007); an increase of speed limits on rehabilitated bridges (from 15 to 30 km/h (9.3 to 18.6 mph) to 60 to 80 km/h (37 to 50 mph)), which contributed to the reduction in running hours; and a reduction in the number of railway accidents throughout the line.
  In 2007, Vietnam Railways awarded an additional VND 150 billion (US$9.5 million) five-year contract for consultancy services to Japan Transportation Consultants, the Pacific Consultants International Group, and the Japan Railway Technical Service (Jarts), regarding a VND 2.47 trillion project to further improve bridge and railway safety on the North–South line. The project's goals include the refurbishment of 44 bridges and 37.6 km (23.4 mi) of railway tracks, the building of two new railway bridges and a new railway station at Ninh Bình, and the purchase of 23 track machines. The project was expected to be completed in 2010.
  Improving maintenance has been identified as a priority for the rail transport sector, specifically maintenance and repair work in rail workshops due to its direct impact on passenger safety. In some cases, a lack of proper maintenance of infrastructure can contribute to accidents even when safety measures are in place. On November 22, 2009, for instance, nine people were killed when a bus collided with a southbound train at a level crossing in Hanoi; one set of warning lights at the crossing was out of order, and the other set had collapsed. The replacement of old and damaged rolling stock is also a priority; a 2006 report by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified the poor condition of trains and rolling stock as a major cause in 50% of railway accidents.
  Besides the above, Vietnam Railways has taken a number of other steps to improve railway safety, including the construction of fences and safety barriers at critical level crossings in major cities, the installation of additional auto-signal systems, and the construction of flyovers and underpasses to redirect traffic around railway lines.
caption: Workers dig up the shoulder near the North–South Railway, in 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": "QuickTime 7.6.6", "Image DateTime": "2010:09:11 10:58:41", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.5.8", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "720", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5654", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/651", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:09:11 07:41:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:09:11 07:41:33", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4991/534", "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"}