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Railway level-crossing protection
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A
majority of railway accidents happen at level-crossings
and the human and material losses caused by these accidents
are enormous. Although the importance of the protection
measures is difficult to overestimate, the variety of protection
systems available and lack of experience confuse policy-makers.
Across the region, accidents at level-crossings cause not
only the injury and death of people but also economic losses
due to disruption of train operations, destruction of property,
loss of goods and shut down of road traffic. Although, in
a majority of cases, the responsibility for level-crossing
accidents rests with road vehicles users, the ensuing media
coverage often badly affects the public perception of rail
and puts railway managers on the defensive.
The study is the first of its kind to address the issue
in such a global manner by drawing upon experiences of railways
and public authorities world-wide. It is intended to provide
guidance to railway administrations of developing countries
in the UNESCAP region in selecting and adopting cost-effective
systems for level-crossing protection. It will also boost
the confidence of railway managers in dealing with public
authorities over the issue. (Full
text of study report)
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