The railway-related traffic infrastructure is the most complicated in the province, so in recent times, Kim Thanh has always been at the top of the province in terms of the number of railway traffic accidents. In particular, some intersections between roads and railways often have accidents, making the railway section through this locality a painful black spot.

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Haunted, painful

A year has passed since the death of her little grandson. But the pain of losing a loved one has not yet subsided in the heart of Mrs. Luong Thi Hong, 59 years old, in Quynh Khe village, Kim Xuyen commune (Kim Thanh).

Talking about her unfortunate grandchild, Ms. Hong recounted that early in the morning of June 27, 2022, her two grandchildren, NNL, born in 2014, and NTNPh., born in 2011, went out cycling together. At 8:00 a.m. the same day, her family received news that the two grandchildren had been hit by a train.

The place where the two children had an accident was the road to Hoa Bac hamlet, Quynh Khe village, intersecting with the Hanoi-Hai Phong railway. L. did not survive, and Ph. was injured. The terrible news tore through Mrs. Hong's heart, making her unable to stand, her limbs limp.

Until today, every time she looks at the portrait of her little grandson, Mrs. Hong cannot hold back her tears because she feels sorry for her obedient, polite but ill-fated grandson.

Nearly a month before we wrote this article, the railway line passing through Kim Thanh recorded another tragic traffic accident. The accident occurred on the morning of May 25, at km 72+315 of the Ha Hai railway line passing through Pham Xa 2 village, Tuan Viet commune, taking the life of a man nearly 70 years old.

At around 10 a.m. that morning, like many other mornings, Mr. NVT, born in 1957, in Pham Xa 2 village, Tuan Viet commune, rode his motorbike to pick up his nephew from school. Mr. T.'s house is near the railway, having lived here for decades, he knows the train schedule very well, and Mr. T. is also a very careful person. But because of a moment of negligence and lack of observation, Mr. T. had to pay with his life. The railway crossing where Mr. T. had the accident had no barrier and no guard. This is the second railway accident to occur in Kim Thanh district and the third railway accident in the province since the beginning of 2023.

The Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line in the province is 45.6 km long, stretching through 18 communes, wards and towns of Cam Giang, Thanh Ha, Kim Thanh districts and Hai Duong city, managed and maintained by Ha Hai Railway Joint Stock Company. The entire line has 33 level crossings (12 level crossings with guards, 21 level crossings with automatic barriers), 166 self-opening paths. Kim Thanh district alone has the most with 15 level crossings (4 level crossings with guards, 11 level crossings with automatic barriers), 128 self-opening paths.

In this article, we will only review 2 of the many tragic accidents that have occurred on the railway line passing through Kim Thanh district in recent years. Pain, loss, even obsession and fear - that is the common psychology of many people, including relatives of the unfortunate people and other ordinary people. Because every day, they have to pass through the locations where accidents have occurred, and most of the railway crossings are self-opened crossings.

In 2022, Hai Duong had 11 railway traffic accidents and collisions, killing 7 people and injuring 3. Of which, Kim Thanh district alone had 8 accidents, killing 6 people and injuring 2 people. In the first 5 months of 2023, the whole province had 3 railway traffic accidents, killing 3 people, of which Kim Thanh district had 2 accidents, killing 2 people. There are many reasons for these painful and haunting numbers.

According to Mr. Luu Van Ngu, Chief of Office of the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee, while the railway line through Hai Duong City and the two districts of Cam Giang and Thanh Ha runs on service roads and branch roads, the railway line through Kim Thanh district runs along National Highway 5, with many residential areas close to the road. "National Highway 5 has a large traffic volume, many traffic participants, many crossroads, openings... These are some of the reasons why the risk of railway traffic accidents in this locality is much higher than in other places," Mr. Ngu analyzed.

Major Nguyen Minh Tan, an officer of the Traffic Police Department (Hai Duong Provincial Police), commented that the railway infrastructure passing through Kim Thanh district is very complicated, with the number of self-made paths accounting for nearly 80% of the total number of self-made paths across the railway in the province. “In addition to this reason, because the railway passes through Kim Thanh district along National Highway 5, the noise from traffic has significantly affected road users. Another reason is that there have been many railway accidents in which the victims were people from other places who did not know the way or the alley,” said Mr. Tan.

Some other causes come from the traffic participants themselves. Carelessness and subjectivity such as standing next to the railway listening to the phone, carelessly walking through the opening without looking, even in cases where there are warning signals of an approaching train but some people still try to cross the railway tracks...

Having worked as a railway crossing guard at Quynh Khe village, Kim Xuyen commune for more than 9 years, Ms. Bui Thi Sam has been startled many times when witnessing near-death incidents due to people's poor awareness. "Although there are traffic lights and commands from guards like us, many people have very poor awareness and do not obey the commands, trying to cross the railway. Many times, when the train is about to arrive, we warn until our voices are hoarse, but some people still do not listen. I don't understand why people risk their lives just waiting for a few minutes for the train?", Ms. Sam shared.

During the filming and interviewing of Ms. Sam, we witnessed a case where a young delivery man was so engrossed in his phone that he did not notice the train approaching. The train was approaching, only a few meters away, and the young man was still calmly crossing. At that moment, Ms. Sam and we screamed together. The motorbike braked to a stop just before the train passed. "Goosebumps" was the common feeling of our group of reporters at that moment.

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The problem must be solved soon.

To overcome the shortcomings of traffic infrastructure, Hai Duong is proposing to build an additional interchange connecting National Highway 17B with National Highway 5 via the Hanoi-Hai Phong railway in the communes of Kim Xuyen, Ngu Phuc (Kim Thanh) and Thuong Quan commune (Kinh Mon) with a total estimated cost of VND 1,867 billion, implementation period from 2023-2025.

This is a roundabout-shaped interchange consisting of a main bridge and 8 access roads. Compared to the interchange at the intersection of the Hanoi-Hai Phong railway, National Highway 5 and Provincial Road 390 (Ba Hang interchange), the interchange connecting National Highway 17B with National Highway 5 via the Hanoi-Hai Phong railway is larger in scale.

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Design of the interchange connecting National Highway 17B with National Highway 5 via the Hanoi-Hai Phong railway (photo provided by the Department of Transport)

The construction of an interchange connecting National Highway 17B with National Highway 5 via the Hanoi-Hai Phong railway will resolve traffic congestion and reduce traffic accidents on National Highway 5, conveniently connecting the traffic network of Kim Thanh district, Kinh Mon town with neighboring areas. According to Mr. Vu Van Tung, Director of the Hai Duong Department of Transport, the interchange between National Highway 17B and National Highway 5 via the railway is one of the areas with the largest traffic conflicts, from the intersecting traffic flows of both roads and railways.

“When the interchange is built, it will reduce congestion and conflicts, and certainly the image of container trucks stopping in long lines while waiting for trains will no longer exist. People traveling by railway will also be safer. This interchange will also gradually complete the traffic route connecting the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway with National Highway 18,” said Mr. Tung.

A few years ago, a project for a Hanoi-Hai Phong railway feeder road through Kim Thanh was proposed. This railway feeder road project through Kim Thanh district is expected to be implemented in the communes of Tuan Viet, Kim Xuyen, Phuc Thanh and Kim Lien, with 5 feeder road sections and barriers passing through existing residential areas, adjacent to the right side of National Highway 5 and the railway in the direction of Hanoi-Hai Phong.

Ms. Vu Thi Thu in Quynh Khe village, Kim Xuyen commune (Kim Thanh) shared: “We are very happy to hear this news. But until now, for many reasons, the project has not been completed. We just hope that there will be a service road soon so that traffic participation is safe and convenient.”

It is known that this project is assigned to the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board to preside over, and is currently in the process of adjusting the report. In addition to the above solutions, the Traffic Safety Board of Kim Thanh district has arranged security forces at 24/132 spontaneous residential level crossings, of which 12 have automatic barriers. The leaders of this district also requested localities to focus on clearing railway corridors, especially the locations where residential level crossings intersect with railways so that visibility is not obstructed, limiting the risk of accidents.

Kim Thanh district is determined to minimize the number of new self-opened walkways, reduce the number and eliminate existing self-opened walkways, build service roads combined with protective fences to connect to level crossings and different-level intersections to reduce the number of self-opened walkways across the railway. "We also propose that the railway industry research and install a train warning system using LED lights, displaying warning messages before and during the train's passage at self-opened walkways on the route to attract the attention of road users on the railway both day and night", informed Mr. Nguyen Phuc Cong, Head of the Economic-Infrastructure Department, Deputy Head of the Traffic Safety Committee of Kim Thanh district.

Another issue, during the process of writing this article, we noticed that at railway guard posts, the guards are quite passive when it comes to the train schedule, because they do not have walkie-talkies. We think that the Hai Duong transport sector needs to review, research, advise, and propose equipping the railway guards with walkie-talkies. Knowing the train schedule also means being more proactive in warning people.

Perform: HA NGA - HA KIEN

Image: COMMON

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Painful black spot of railway accident in Kim Thanh