Ministry not impressed by ProRail's plan to block unguarded crossings
State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure and Water Management is not impressed by ProRail CEO Pier Eringa's intention to start blocking off unguarded railway crossings at his own initiative. "It is now a tradition for Mr. Eringa to show up with all kinds of plans in the media in the run-up to a parliamentary debate about railways", she said, NOS reports.
The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, will discuss the railways on Thursday.
Speaking to the Telegraaf earlier on Wednesday, Eringa denounced the slow decision-making around the closure of dangerous, unguarded railway crossings. He therefore plans place concrete blocks at these crossing, starting next week.
Van Veldhoven isn't taking Eringa's statements seriously. "For everyone who has a serious plan to improve safety on the railway, my door is always open", she said to NOS. Whether she will intervene in ProRail's plans, is not yet clear. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
Eringa called Van Veldhoven's reaction to ProRail's plan faint, speaking to Spraakmakers on NPO Radio 1. He's been pushing for making railway crossings safer since Van Veldhoven took office, he said. "The State Secretary seems to have a little more patience than I. But I will remain annoying on this point."
