– I realized when it beeped many times that something was wrong. It was terribly uncomfortable, says Mikkel Sørensen. It was this summer that it almost went wrong. He lives near the level crossing at Ranheim in Trondheim. – There was a father who was down here swimming with some children. When they were going up, one of the kids jumped over the track. She lost her bathing suit or something. Then she was going back to get it when the train arrived. The locomotive driver spots the 3-4-year-old girl and pulls on the emergency brake. The train stops seven or eight meters before the disaster is a fact. – It was extremely disgusting to watch, says Sørensen. A lorry train tried to cross the railway while the barriers were down and got stuck. Photo: Bane Nor More and more near misses Bane Nor must realize that despite a lot of preventive work, things are going in the wrong direction. Between Steinkjer and Trondheim alone, there have been 51 cases, so far this year, where the train has seen people on the railway in front of it. But the trend is the same throughout the country. More and more people choose to duck under barriers to cross the railway before the train arrives. – We have a lot of illegal traffic. Last week there were three or four cases at level crossings, says track manager Geir Revdahl in Bane Nor. So far this year, 485 undesirable incidents have been registered at the crossings. This is a strong increase from last year. – This is what we are working on most in Bane Nor at the moment – taking measures at the level crossings. Nevertheless, it is the statistics that increase the most. It is very worrying, says Revdahl. Because the episode in Ranheimsfjæra is not the only time it has been close: Stjørdal 16 June: A person with a headset over his ears crosses the railway with the barriers down in front of the train. The person did not even hear the train which was very close to hitting the person. Være bru 22 June: A young person with large headphones and his nose down into the phone was on his way over the level crossing just before the train arrived. A guard on the spot managed to push the youth off the track before the train arrived. Sparbu 22 September: A cyclist slaloms between the barriers just before the train arrives. Nossum level crossing on 17 July: Two young people made fun of themselves in front of the train. They hit wheels and jumped around in front of the train. The train had to slow down to avoid a collision. STATEMENT: Rail manager at Bane Nor, Geir Revdahl, is afraid that bad attitudes on the part of many are causing them to experience more and more unwanted incidents along the railway. Photo: Bane Nor – Change of attitude Bane Nor is working to make crossing the railway safer. In recent years, they have tightened the requirements for transitions. Among other things, they clear bushes and remove masses to improve visibility. Everything so that people have a better time to get over the track. Nevertheless, they see that the work they have done does not lead to fewer dangerous incidents. – I have no good answer as to why it is increasing. It may have something to do with attitudes. One might think that the trains stop much more easily than they do, says Revdahl. In the worst case, a freight train can take 1,300 meters to stop. The local trains take much less time, but they don’t stop in an instant either. That is why Bane Nor has now started traveling around to both kindergartens and schools to talk about the dangers of the train. – I think people need to become more aware of the danger of crossing the track.
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More and more people are ignoring barriers and signals at railway crossings – news Trøndelag
