Despite slowworm, walkers and landowners, a large number of unguarded and deadly level crossings have been closed. Six more to go in Drenthe and Groningen

Two weeks ago, a woman crashed her car into a freight train in Farmsum in the early morning. She escaped unscathed, but it didn’t make much difference. Things did not end well in Hooghalen four years ago: the driver lost his life in a collision with a tractor.

For a long time, accidents occurred all the time in the Netherlands at unguarded railway crossings. There are no barriers at these types of level crossings, which increases the risk of this happening. There were also numerous collisions with serious consequences in the North. For example, eighteen people were injured in a collision in 2016 near Winsum between a train and a milk truck.

Reason for ProRail to put an end to it for good. Together with the central government, which made money available for this, the ambitious NABO (Not Actively Protected Level Crossings) program was set up in 2018. The aim is to eliminate all 180 unguarded railway crossings in the Netherlands, either by closing them or turning them into a secured level crossing.

Alternative routes often have to be constructed

According to ProRail spokesperson Mirjam de Witte, 150 crossings have now been closed. The plan is to address the remaining by 2027. “It looks like this will work. We have the budget for that within NABO.”

Removing an unguarded railway crossing seems simpler than it is. Some are on private land, with whom ProRail must negotiate. Alternative routes often have to be created for pedestrians, cyclists or other traffic to cross the railway line. This may take longer if rare plants and animals occur, “such as the garlic toad, the moor frog or the slow worm.” The tender can also go wrong, meaning it has to be redone.

Furthermore, local residents may oppose the closure of a road that is valuable to them. This happened, among other things, at the historic church path between Loppersum and Eenum. To no avail, although ProRail is constructing a pedestrian tunnel at the Gerichtsweg.

The job in Winschoten will probably be completed in 2025

In Groningen and Drenthe there are currently six unguarded railway crossings left, which should have disappeared this year. In Warffum, ProRail is still negotiating with a private landowner. In Loppersum, the one on the Zuidlopsterweg will be closed this year and the one on the Gerichtsweg in 2026. In Winschoten, the job will probably be completed in 2025. Negotiations are underway with private landowners in Dalen (no end date yet) and Sleen (probably at the end of this year).

The circumstances of the accident at Farmsum are also now being investigated. Officially, the level crossing is not part of ProRail’s NABO program. This is located on a so-called trunk line: a railway on an industrial estate. Freight trains on these types of routes usually run slowly, which means that on average there are far fewer accidents than on lines with passenger transport.

According to De Witte, the removal of the majority of unguarded railway crossings has already more than halved the average number of fatal accidents. Once all level crossings have disappeared, there will be no more victims, although there will always be people who, whether intentionally or not, continue to cross in unsecured places.