A shows a woman escaping her car, stuck on the tracks at a level crossing in Bertrange, moments before the vehicle is hit by a passing train on Monday.

The woman’s car became stuck when both safety barriers went down. In fact, the woman could have driven herself off the tracks, Luxembourg’s national railway has told Delano.

The barriers are designed to break when someone tries to drive off the tracks. “But that is not our first message; our first message is to respect red lights,” a CFL spokeswoman stated on Tuesday. “Stop when they start flashing red” and do not proceed until both barriers are up. “You should always wait until it’s free on the other side, so you can just drive through.”

That said, if a motorist does become trapped between two lowered safety barriers, “just drive through,” the railway rep told Delano. “The barrier will break” thanks to a hinge system.

Eliminating level crossings

The CFL is currently in the process of replacing level crossings at the rate of roughly two a year. “In the last five years, we’ve eliminated 25 level crossings,” the spokeswoman reported. It takes about ten years to change a level crossing, she said. Each project needs to be planned with local authorities and the transport ministry. Officials must agree on, for example, “how to redirect the road traffic” and if the level crossing will be replaced with a bridge above or tunnel below the track. Other steps are required before authorisation is granted.

There are still 116 level crossings left in Luxembourg, she stated.

Safety campaign

The CFL marked International Level Crossing Awareness Day on 10 June and started a two weeks ago.

As for the woman whose car was destroyed in Bertrange, but did not experience any physical injuries, the CFL spokeswoman said: “She was really lucky, that’s the only thing I can say.”