ProRail missing target for closing or securing unguarded crossings

ProRail will not achieve its goal of closing or securing all 180 unguarded rail crossings by the end of this year. There are at least 40 Not Actively Protected Crossings (NABOs) that the rail manager hasn’t addressed yet, De Telegraaf reports based on figures provided by ProRail.

“But the aim is to tackle another 25 this calendar year. And we hope to close or secure those last NABOs in the coming years,” Danou Veenhof, regional director at ProRail, told the newspaper.

NABOs have no lights, booms, or bells to warn about oncoming trains, so crossers must be extra alert. “Since 2000, we have had more than 30 fatal accidents on unguarded crossings, so it is clear why this is so important: we save lives with it. The impact of an accident is huge. Especially for the next of kin,” Veenhof said. “But also for the train driver and the emergency services involved in such an incident.”

“Unfortunately, we have not succeeded in dismantling all existing publicly accessible NABOs. Not because we didn’t want to, but because it is quite difficult to get everyone on the same page,” Veenhof said.

ProRail can’t just close a crossing. “We depend on various factors like lengthy negotiations with stakeholders such as local residents or businesses in the area, agreements with local and regional authorities, and ecological research,” Veenhof said. “It sometimes feels like we can’t win. If we close it quickly, we get protests. If we have careful consultations, it takes much longer, and we will certainly be accused of not acting quickly enough in the event of an accident.”

But Veenhof is satisfied with the performance so far. ProRail has closed or secured the majority of unguarded crossings and will keep working on the remaining ones. “Especially in the east of the country, we still have a lot to do.”