The Finnish Rail Administration is planning to remove 120 level railway crossings this year, in an effort to cut down on the number of collisions that occur on them.
For years the Administration has been removing level crossings little by little, but this is twice the number of crossings they would normally tackle in one year. Dangerous crossings will be replaced by bridges, tunnels, or upgraded to safe railway crossing points.
Last year there were 49 collisions on level crossing points. Nine people were killed and 20 were injured. The government decided last autumn to give the Rail Administration an additional nine million euros -- on top of its four million-euro allotment -- to help correct the problem quickly.
The cost of building a bridge over a crossing is anywhere between 500,000 and three million euros. Installing an automatic barrier costs 100,000 euros.
Eastern and northern Finland have more railway crossings that are considered dangerous, so the focus will be on these areas. The most dangerous crossing, however, is considered to be one near Turku, on Old Tampere Road (Vanha Tampereentie).
