The numerous houses, cafes, liquor stalls and other small businesses that litter both sides of railway easements are a major cause of traffic accidents and should be removed, warns Hanoi - Hai Phong Railway Management Company deputy director Nguyen Hoai Trung.
Much of the 120-km major railway tracks the company managed had been seriously encroached, especially in the city, he said.
The railway corridors in Dinh Cong, Kham Thien, Nha Dau and Phung Hung streets, Hanoi , as well as Nhu Quynh village, Hung Yen province, were usually covered with rubbish that obstructed the traffic.
Informing people about the danger would be a “must” for his company this year, he said.
Vietnam Railway Corporation surveys show suburban violations are the most serious danger.
For example, residents have illegally built 40 of 43 crossings of 2-km railway in the Co Nhue commune, Tu Liem district for temporary markets and traffic accidents are regularly occur there.
The survey reveals encroachment at 12,000 locations in 33 cities and provinces - 4,200 in Hanoi , Hai Phong and HCM City .
Road and Railway Traffic Police representative Dam Xuan Bo said encroachment into the corridors blocked people’s sight and caused railway accidents.
His department’s statistics showed that an average of about 150 railway accidents that cause tens of deaths and injuries were reported each month.
The statistics also reveal that signals were ignored in almost 80 percent of the accidents and 10 percent were the result of people walking, squatting or lying on the railway.
The other 10 percent were the result of people intentionally ducking under traffic barriers.
But Vietnam Railways figures reveal that 99 percent of accidents occur at illegal and unprotected barrier-less crossings.
These include Giap Bat-Van Dien-Thuong Tin in Hanoi ; My Ly-Quan Thanh-Ca Rom in the central province of Khanh Hoa and Bien Hoa-Ho Nai in the southern province of Dong Nai .
For example, 16 deaths in 13 accidents were reported from the 500m Van Dien-Thuong Tin railway track where 166 illegal railroad crossings were built in the past two years.
Vietnam Railways safety director Pham Van Binh said residents demolished special-built safety walls and built their own crossings, for easier access.
Vietnam Railways inspectors together with road and railway traffic police and other agencies have started a campaign to deal with the suburban encroachments.
Vietnam Railways Inspector Uong Dinh Hung said local officials had played an important part in identifying the violators and suggesting proper, stiff punishments.
Local officials would assess household encroachments and those without house ownership or land-use certificates would face fines in accordance with government regulations of between 3 million and 20 million VND, about 147 -1,052 USD.
Measures to have legal documents clear the corridors would follow.
The hazardous Tia Market in Thuong Tin District, Thanh Tri District, Giai Phong, Phung Hung, Kham Thien streets, central Hanoi, and illegal crossings in the Phuong Liet and Trung Phung wards of Dong Da District as well as the Hanoi- Ngoc Hoi line would also be cleared./.
Much of the 120-km major railway tracks the company managed had been seriously encroached, especially in the city, he said.
The railway corridors in Dinh Cong, Kham Thien, Nha Dau and Phung Hung streets, Hanoi , as well as Nhu Quynh village, Hung Yen province, were usually covered with rubbish that obstructed the traffic.
Informing people about the danger would be a “must” for his company this year, he said.
Vietnam Railway Corporation surveys show suburban violations are the most serious danger.
For example, residents have illegally built 40 of 43 crossings of 2-km railway in the Co Nhue commune, Tu Liem district for temporary markets and traffic accidents are regularly occur there.
The survey reveals encroachment at 12,000 locations in 33 cities and provinces - 4,200 in Hanoi , Hai Phong and HCM City .
Road and Railway Traffic Police representative Dam Xuan Bo said encroachment into the corridors blocked people’s sight and caused railway accidents.
His department’s statistics showed that an average of about 150 railway accidents that cause tens of deaths and injuries were reported each month.
The statistics also reveal that signals were ignored in almost 80 percent of the accidents and 10 percent were the result of people walking, squatting or lying on the railway.
The other 10 percent were the result of people intentionally ducking under traffic barriers.
But Vietnam Railways figures reveal that 99 percent of accidents occur at illegal and unprotected barrier-less crossings.
These include Giap Bat-Van Dien-Thuong Tin in Hanoi ; My Ly-Quan Thanh-Ca Rom in the central province of Khanh Hoa and Bien Hoa-Ho Nai in the southern province of Dong Nai .
For example, 16 deaths in 13 accidents were reported from the 500m Van Dien-Thuong Tin railway track where 166 illegal railroad crossings were built in the past two years.
Vietnam Railways safety director Pham Van Binh said residents demolished special-built safety walls and built their own crossings, for easier access.
Vietnam Railways inspectors together with road and railway traffic police and other agencies have started a campaign to deal with the suburban encroachments.
Vietnam Railways Inspector Uong Dinh Hung said local officials had played an important part in identifying the violators and suggesting proper, stiff punishments.
Local officials would assess household encroachments and those without house ownership or land-use certificates would face fines in accordance with government regulations of between 3 million and 20 million VND, about 147 -1,052 USD.
Measures to have legal documents clear the corridors would follow.
The hazardous Tia Market in Thuong Tin District, Thanh Tri District, Giai Phong, Phung Hung, Kham Thien streets, central Hanoi, and illegal crossings in the Phuong Liet and Trung Phung wards of Dong Da District as well as the Hanoi- Ngoc Hoi line would also be cleared./.
