© Kristof Vadino
Track runners and incidents at level crossings caused train traffic delays of 12 hours and 30 minutes every day last year. That is a doubling compared to 2021, rail network operator Infrabel reported on Thursday during a press conference at Groot-Bijgaarden station.
Although the number of accidents at level crossings and the number of rail runners decreased slightly last year, the impact was much greater on train traffic. Rail runners in particular turned the train service upside down.
In 2023, there were 632 reports of rail disruptions, accounting for an average of almost 10 hours of delays per day. Five people were killed and four seriously injured in those incidents. These figures are comparable to 2022, when there were 649 reports, although the delay was slightly lower. In general, there has been a downward trend since 2018, but Infrabel has again noted a slight increase in the last two years.
Accidents at level crossings
There were also 324 incidents at level crossings last year. These (traffic) accidents and incidents such as a broken barrier or overhead line led to a delay of 52,925 minutes, or an average of more than 2 hours of delay per day. There were 31 accidents at level crossings, resulting in six fatalities and five injuries. These figures are in line with the downward trend of recent years.
Of the 31 accidents, 25 occurred on conventional railway lines and six on freight lines in the port area. A road vehicle was involved in 80 percent of the accidents. The main cause of these incidents at level crossings is failure to respect traffic rules, mainly ignoring signaling. Also important is careless behavior by road users who get stuck or who try to cross the level crossing when the traffic situation no longer allows this.