Danish railway crossings see 75 percent rise in near misses

The number of near-miss incidents at Danish railway crossings rose by 75 percent in 2025, according to figures from the Danish Transport Authority reported by DR. Banedanmark has launched a new campaign warning people not to cross when a train is approaching.

There were 549 near misses nationwide last year, up from 313 in 2024. A near miss is an incident in which there is a risk of a collision, based on reports from locomotive drivers.

“If the light is flashing red, you must stop,” said Laura Meyer Harrison, an office manager at the Danish Transport Authority.

She said a train has a considerably longer braking distance than a car and cannot stop quickly. The authority also warned that the actual number of incidents may be higher because not all of them are reported.

The short Nærumbanen railway line between Jægersborg and Nærum has been particularly affected.

There were 11 accidents at railway crossings in Denmark last year, according to the authority. Two were fatal. A 60-year-old woman died after a manure transport vehicle collided with a passenger train near Bjerndrup in Southern Jutland, injuring 26 people.

Seven weeks earlier, a 24-year-old man was killed when a train hit his van as he was crossing the tracks at a location not far away.

Cameras were installed at six railway crossings in Southern Jutland after the accidents. Since then, many more people have stopped when the warning signals began ringing and flashing.

However, a behavioural study by the Danish Transport Authority suggests that people are generally becoming more willing to take risks. One in five pedestrians said they would be prepared to cross a railway crossing without barriers despite active warning signals if they could not see or hear a train.

Among drivers, five in 100 said they would be willing to cross a crossing without barriers if they could not see or hear a train. The study also found that one in five road users did not know the rules for crossing a railway crossing without barriers.

“The rules are actually quite clear. If the light is flashing red, you must stop and may not cross the railway,” Harrison said.

Banedanmark’s new campaign, titled “You can’t just make it,” focuses on the risks of crossing a railway when a train is approaching.