Difficult to remove 3,000 self-opened paths due to lack of money

There are still more than 3,000 self-opening paths.

According to Giao thong Newspaper reporters at the Gia Lam - Hai Phong railway, the section from the crossing at Sai Dong B Industrial Park to the crossing at Thach Ban Street (Long Bien, Hanoi) intersecting with the old National Highway 5 is a white fence running more than 1km long separating the residential area and the railway; Inside is a service road more than 2m wide, convenient for people to travel.

The Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City railway section from Ngoc Hoi to Thuong Tin is littered with self-made paths, with one every few meters, posing a safety threat. Photo: Ta Hai.

A gatekeeper said that because this area faces Highway 5, it is convenient for business and production, so even though there are crossroads and walkways along the railway on both sides, households still open their own walkways across the railway to enter and exit their stores, posing a very high risk of insecurity.

In 2022, Long Bien district coordinated with the railway industry to build a fence along this section, eliminating self-opened paths.

A representative of Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company - the route management unit, said that the construction of this section of the fence has eliminated 14 self-opened paths.

However, by the end of June 2023, there were still 341 self-opened crossings on all railway lines under the management unit (a decrease of 18 crossings compared to 2021). Of which, the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City railway line through Hanoi alone had 77 crossings; the Gia Lam - Hai Phong line passing through Hanoi, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, and Hai Phong had 256 crossings.

In Ha Nam, according to the reporter's records, in the area of ​​Liem Tiet commune, Phu Ly city, the railway section passing through the area is nearly 2km but the situation of placing decorative rocks on the railway corridor and self-made walkways has existed for many years but has not been completely resolved. Many other locations also have self-made walkways but have not been able to be resolved because of local protests.

The above situation does not only occur in Hanoi or Ha Nam, but is a common situation in localities where railways pass through.

Vietnam Railway Corporation said that in 2020, the Prime Minister issued Decision 358 approving the Project to ensure traffic safety and order and completely handle self-opened walkways on railways. The main goal is to completely eliminate self-opened walkways by 2025. At that time, there will be more than 5,000 self-opened walkways on the entire national railway network.

To implement the project, some localities have allocated funds to clear the land and build access roads. However, due to the large volume of the project, the risk of delay is obvious.

Up to now, after 3 years, 672 self-opened paths have been removed and fenced off, but 3,352 paths still exist; more than 11,000 locations pose a high risk of insecurity.

Similarly, other projects and items are behind schedule, currently only more than 19km of service roads and fences have been built out of a total of more than 650km; 3/297 level crossings; 2/149 underpasses...

Proposal to amend the law to remove difficulties

Mr. Pham Ngoc Vinh, Chief of Office of the Traffic Safety Committee of Nam Dinh province, said that after 3 years of implementing Project 358, Nam Dinh has mobilized central and local capital sources to eliminate 167/249 (about 67%) self-made paths, with 82 paths still needing to be eliminated from now until the end of 2025.

The fence and service road section was built by Long Bien District (Hanoi) in coordination with the railway in 2022 on the Gia Lam - Hai Phong route, eliminating 14 self-opened paths across the railway. Photo: Ta Hai.

However, achieving this goal is still very difficult, because the remaining paths are mainly paths to one or a few households, some paths across the railway are gateways to residential areas that have existed for a long time, and cannot be used as a connecting road to a legal level crossing.

According to the representative of Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company, the provinces under the railway area that this unit is in charge of such as Hanoi, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hai Phong all informed that there are difficulties in arranging capital (both local and central) to clear the land, there is no land fund for fences and access roads. In particular, site clearance is very difficult, requiring a lot of capital; Building access roads on land reserved for railways to save costs is a violation of the law.

According to Mr. Nguyen Huy Hien, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Railway Authority, the biggest difficulty is still lack of capital and legal regulations. Regarding capital, the funding source for investing in the construction of auxiliary works (overpasses, underpasses, level crossings, fences/receiving roads...) has not been arranged by the competent authority according to the roadmap of Decision 358.

Regarding responsibility, localities must prioritize the allocation of local budget capital to build fences and access roads, but many places are not proactive. In cases where localities cannot allocate capital, instead of proactively applying for central budget support, some localities request the Ministry of Transport to arrange it.

In particular, during the project implementation, many localities requested permission to build access roads on railway traffic safety corridor land because there was no land fund. However, according to the Railway Law, this is not allowed.

"In fact, if allowed, it is only necessary to build fences to block railways and access roads to eliminate self-opened paths, ensuring safety for both people and train safety. Therefore, the Department has proposed to amend and supplement regulations on this content in the dossier to amend the 2017 Railway Law to remove difficulties and promote the progress of project implementation," said Mr. Hien.

Most accidents happen in open walkways.

According to Vietnam Railway Corporation, more than 80% of accidents occur at self-opened crossings and along the railway. In 2022 alone, there were 213 railway accidents, of which 98 occurred at self-opened crossings and 95 occurred along the railway; in the first 8 months of 2023, the corresponding figures were 125, of which 45 occurred at self-opened crossings and 61 occurred along the railway.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/kho-xoa-3000-loi-di-tu-mo-vi-thieu-tien-192231012230522411.htm