In the first 4 months of 2026, the entire railway network recorded 65 accidents, causing 62 casualties. Faced with the complicated situation of violations at self-opened walkways and level crossings, Decree 81/2026/ND-CP has increased fines to 40 million VND to tighten discipline.
From the beginning of April 2026 to now, violations of the railway safety corridor have continuously occurred, posing a risk of traffic unsafety. Most recently, at about 6:28 pm on April 18, at Km 35+637, Dong Van - Phu Xuyen section (Hanoi), train SE6 collided with a car deliberately crossing a level crossing. The vehicle was heavily damaged, the driver luckily escaped.
Previously, at about 8 am on April 18, at Km 10+400 of the North - South railway line, driver Nguyen Quang C. (born 1977, residing in Hanoi) driving a pickup truck still tried to overtake when the barrier was lowering, causing the vehicle to be trapped in the dangerous area. Fortunately, the driver reversed in time to avoid collision. Functional forces made a record of a fine of 5 million VND and revoked the driver's license for 2 months for the offense of overtaking a barrier when the barrier was moving.
Not only at self-opened walkways, violations also occur right at legal level crossings with full signals. On April 14, at Km 1369+421 (Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa), a container truck intentionally broke the barrier when staff were operating to close the road.
According to Vietnam Railways Corporation, accidents at road and railway intersections account for up to 50% of the total number of cases. The main reason is that traffic participants lack observation, intentionally do not comply with signals and orders of level crossing guards.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Dang Hong Bac - Deputy Head of the Railway Traffic Safety and Security Department said that the current difficulty 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. In addition, the compliance awareness of a part of the population is still limited, although they have been propagated and fined.
According to Mr. Uong Dinh Hung - Deputy Head of the Legal - Inspection Department (Vietnam Railways Authority), in order to prevent acts threatening train safety, the Government has issued Decree 81/2026/ND-CP replacing the previous Decree 100. The new Decree strongly increases sanctions for more than 30 groups of violations, focusing on acts that directly cause danger.
The act of driving a car over a level crossing barrier is fined from 18 - 20 million VND, instead of 3 - 5 million VND as before. The highest fine is up to 40 million VND applied to acts of arbitrarily opening a passageway across the railway or violating alcohol concentration when driving a railway vehicle.
Decree 81/2026/ND-CP will take effect from May 15, 2026. With strongly increased sanctions, functional agencies expect to create clear changes, contributing to reducing railway traffic accidents in the coming time.
