“One train can hide another.

The message, inviting vigilance and not to leave too quickly after the passage of the last car, is well known.

But if history does not say how much the council influences, the figures are clear: the number of accidents at level crossings has been falling sharply for several years, and even “by half in ten years”, underlines SNCF Réseau.

If the statistics for 2021 and especially 2020 are disrupted by Covid-19, the trend is clear.

The number of collisions is down: 260 in 1988 for example, 154 in 2015, 110 in 2019, 67 in 2020, 110 again in 2021. There were 13 deaths in 2020 (9 in vehicles and 4 pedestrians) and 24 in 2021 (respectively 5 and 19), while we deplored around thirty deaths on average in recent years.

"It's very generally a road safety problem", says one at SNCF Réseau.

Another 146 “sensitive” level crossings

France has 15,000 level crossings, crossed every day by 16 million vehicles.

“This represents 300,000 barrier closures per day”, indicates SNCF Réseau, the public manager of French railways.

Their number has fallen considerably, since there were still 25,000 level crossings in 1980. Most barriers are automatic.

More than two-thirds are on municipal roads.

The rest mainly concerns departmental roads.

A number of crossings are considered more sensitive than others.

A “national security program” identifies those that have priority.

There were 497 when the program was launched in 1997, after an accident with a tanker that left 13 dead and 43 injured in Port-Sainte-Foy.

Today, the list still includes 146 dangerous level crossings, and the communities that manage them are placing more and more emphasis on the development of the surroundings.



"Actions of a few tens of thousands of euros can bring a real improvement in security", wrote the deputy of the Pyrénées-Orientales Laurence Gayte in a 2019 report. While the construction of a bridge can cost between 3 and 25 million euros, a long procedure requiring impact studies, public inquiry, etc.

According to the SNCF, 98% of accidents are due to the behavior of motorists or pedestrians, the remaining 2% being due to malicious acts, climatic problems, or even animals.

Miscellaneous facts

Morbihan: Hit by a train, an 83-year-old cyclist dies

reindeer

Rennes: Where are we with the removal of level crossings deemed dangerous?

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