Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
The government recently approved a budget of about 28 billion baht to raise safety levels at railway crossings throughout the kingdom.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about the safety campaign.
On June 2 the government approved a budget of 27.89 billion baht to address the problem of dangerous railway crossings, deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.
SAFETY PLAN
The Transport Ministry’s plan to raise safety levels at railway crossings was approved, as was a proposal to create bypass roads around future Special Economic Zone (SEZ) cities, Sansern said. The plan is expected to be completed by 2017.
The cabinet has assigned the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), the Highways Department and the Rural Roads Department to carry out the crossings projects. It comes after motorists were killed in a spate of accidents at crossings in recent months.
ILLEGAL CROSSINGS
According to Transport Minister Prajin Juntong, there are more than 2,517 railway crossings in Thailand, of which 1,933 are legal. Locals created 584 of the illegal crossings as short cuts.
Many of these illegal crossings are prone to accidents because they are not equipped with proper security devices. The government has approved a budget of 58.4 million baht for the SRT to install lights, speed bumps and warning signs this year.
FURTHER ACTION
The Transport Ministry is seeking 408 million baht to erect sensor systems at rail crossings, which would warn of a train’s approach to a crossing 300 metres before it reaches it.
The Budget Bureau has so far approved only 50 million baht for the project. Prajin said he would ask for the rest of the money from the Road Safety Fund.
The budget will be gradually allocated from this year until 2017, covering improvements to signal systems and barriers at 775 crossings and installing systems and barriers at other crossings, including some of the illegal ones.
NEW OVERPASSES
Some crossings would be turned into overpasses or bypasses, Prajin said. Of the total number of safety improvements to crossings, the Highways Department will be responsible for 83 and the Rural Roads Department for 24. All other crossings will come under the care of the SRT, Prajin said.
Exercises
Read through the story. Then, decide whether each of the following statements are true or false.
1. SEZ stands for Special Environment Zone.
……………….
2. Prajin Juntong is the Minister of Transport.
……………….
3. The cabinet has assigned the Mass Rapid Transit to carry out the crossings projects.
……………….
4. The plan is expected to be completed by 2018.
……………….
Vocabulary
- prone (adj): likely to suffer from something or to do something bad
allocate (v): to give something officially to somebody or something for a particular purpose
barrier (n): an object like a fence that prevents people from moving forward from one place to another
