Self-opening a railway passageway, fined up to 40 million VND

Legal Consulting Office of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

Clause 4, Article 17 of Decree 81/2026/ND-CP Regulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of railway traffic (effective from May 15, 2026), stipulates as follows:

A fine of between 10 million VND and 20 million VND shall be imposed on individuals, and from 20 million VND to 40 million VND shall be imposed on organizations that commit one of the following violations:

a) Self-opening a passageway across the railway;

b) Drilling, excavating, and splitting illegal railways;

c) Illegally dismantling and moving rails, spurs, components, accessories, materials, equipment, and signal information systems of railways.

Point e, Clause 6, Article 17 of Decree 81/2026/ND-CP stipulates:

e) Performing the acts specified in point e, clause 2; clause 3; clause 4; point a, clause 5 of this Article, forcing the restoration of the original state that has been changed due to administrative violations.

Thus, from May 15, 2026, businesses that open their own railway crossings may be fined up to 40 million VND and forced to restore the original state that has been changed according to the above regulations.