Safety fences may be installed at some railway crossings: Anupong
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Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda will consult with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) after recent train crashes with cars at rail crossings.
A possible solution – setting up safety fences at the crossings – should come with officials to man them around the clock to effectively prevent accidents, he said, he was gathering information and would soon consult with the SRT about implementing a solution and what agency would fund it.
In regard to a crash in Khon Kaen on Thursday that killed five people and injured another 40, provincial railway inspector Sompan Udompan said the crossing had low traffic volume of just 300 cars a day but damage from the accident was estimated at Bt30 million.
Some 21 of the 62 crossings in Khon Kaen have safety fences, while the rest have three warning signs. Installing a safety fence would cost Bt4 million per spot, so the SRT would consider sites where 100,000 cars cross, among factors for fence installation and then prioritise those deemed most needy, he said.
