Motorists may be killed at unmanned crossings, warns train drivers’union

MOTORISTS could be killed at unmanned train crossings because of their failure to close the gates at these junctions, a train drivers’ union has warned.

There are more than 200 of these level crossings throughout the country, despite Government investment in rail lines.

Last month, Limerick nun Sr Joan Bowles, 59, was killed at the unmanned Woodfarm crossing on the main Limerick to Tipperary road.

Motorists travelling through these crossings are required by law to close the gates after they drive over the train track.

Iarnród Eireann is upgrading 600 of its 1,900 level crossings around the country.

This 115 million investment will mean unmanned crossings such as Woodfarm will be upgraded to work electronically, but most will remain.

“People are very good about closing the gates and this has worked very well for years. We believe the public are aware of their duty at these gates,” an Iarnród Eireann spokesman said.

More than 14,000 information booklets have been distributed nationwide in areas where people live and work close to crossings.

These Iarnród Eireann booklets set out the dangers of using the gates incorrectly.

However, the Irish Locomotive Drivers’ Association claims that hundreds are failing to close gates properly each week.

“The laws are not enforced strongly enough and people will have to be made more aware of the dangers these crossings pose,” ILDA secretary Brendan Ogle said.

Mr Ogle believes that hundreds of poorly-informed motorists narrowly avoid serious injury at these crossings each year.

“We have ongoing problems with people failing to close the gates. This doesn’t happen in the north because the PSNI enforce this law more effectively there,” he said.

Iarnród Eireann said motorists had been prosecuted over their failure to close the gates.

“People have been prosecuted for this offence and the law is there to make sure that the best safety standards are maintained,” an Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said.

After the accident involving Sr Bowles, ILDA claimed that train drivers had made several complaints about this gate in the last five years.

Truck driver PJ Bourke was injured seriously at the same crossing in October 1999, when his 5,000 gallon milk tanker collided with a train.