Railway accidents in Vietnam

These measures include: public awareness campaigns on railway safety in the media; construction of fences and safety barriers at critical level crossings in major cities; mobilization of volunteers for traffic control at train stations and level crossings, especially during holiday seasons; the installation of additional auto-signal systems; and the construction of flyovers and underpasses to redirect traffic.

The city of Hanoi, along with the provinces of Nghệ An, Khánh Hòa and Đồng Nai have the highest density of road-rail crossings.

[3] While on a visit to Vietnam to evaluate infrastructure development projects sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), researcher A. Maria Toyoda noted "There are numerous safety issues with level crossings, residences right up against the tracks, and other areas of activity that are dangerously close ... People will cross the tracks at great risk, dodging in front of the train.

"[10] In the first 10 months of 2009, 431 railway incidents reportedly took place throughout Vietnam, causing 166 casualties and injuring 319 people.

Rail transport only became a national priority for the Vietnamese government around the mid-1990s, at which point most of the railway network was severely degraded, having received only temporary repair from damages suffered during decades of war.

[14] In some cases, a lack of proper maintenance of infrastructure can contribute to incidents even when safety measures are in place.

[4] The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has identified poor management practices and the weak enforcement of safety laws and regulations as contributing to railway incidents as well.

[3] Volunteers have also been mobilized to provide traffic control at both level crossings and train stations, especially during holiday seasons.

[2] As discussed above, the state of railway safety in Vietnam lends itself to frequent accidents, many of them fatal.