Reality has recorded many tragic incidents. On the evening of March 27, in Thuong Phuc commune (Hanoi), a train collided with a motorbike, killing 2 people on the spot; the vehicle was swept away and completely deformed. Most recently, on the afternoon of April 12, a tractor carrying three grandparents and grandchildren, when passing a spontaneous opening in O Loan commune, collided with a train, killing a boy and seriously injuring two people.
The above figures and incidents show that the situation of railway traffic unsafety is at an alarming level. The characteristic of trains is large volume, high speed, and long braking distance, so when incidents occur, the consequences are often very serious.
Self-opened walkways mainly exist to serve people's travel needs, but there are no warning systems, no guards. Many locations are also obscured by people's houses, trees or curves, increasing the risk of accidents. Most of the incidents occur at people's walkways or because traffic participants do not comply with warning signals. There are many cases of intentionally crossing railways when trains are about to arrive or when barriers have been lowered.
To reduce accidents, the Traffic Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) has worked with relevant units and local authorities with the North-South railway line passing through, implementing many synchronous solutions to eliminate self-opened walkways.
Functional forces also strengthen the installation of warning signs on penalties at level crossings with guards or automatic warning systems. Fines are publicly announced right at the scene, from 800,000 - 1,000,000 VND for motorbikes and 4,000 - 6,000,000 VND for cars, contributing to raising compliance awareness.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Dang Hong Bac - Deputy Head of the Railway Traffic Safety and Security Department (Vietnam Railways Corporation) said that the biggest difficulty currently is that many localities have not allocated funds to build replacement works such as service roads, overpasses, and underpasses. Some unique level crossings cannot be completely fenced off, so only guards can be arranged. Meanwhile, despite being propagated and fined, many people still intentionally violate.
In March 2026, the railway industry removed 35 self-opened walkways and narrowed 1 walkway fence. However, removal is only truly sustainable when accompanied by reorganizing the civil transport system. Therefore, units are continuing to coordinate with localities to build replacement works such as service roads, median fences, legal level crossings, civil underpasses; gradually ending spontaneous travel, preventing re-encroachment. In the coming time, the railway industry will strengthen inspections in key areas such as stations, level crossings, self-opened walkways; promptly detect and handle violations, preventing incidents due to subjectivity.
