The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has been urged to speed up installation of barriers and warning signal systems at more than 1,300 crossings nationwide for safety reasons.
Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said accidents at crossings involving trains and vehicles are too common.
Figures show most accidents at rail crossings happen upcountry, particularly when there are no barricades or warning signals, he said.
Illegal makeshift rail crossings have multiplied as communities expand, he said.
They often start with crossings for motorcycles and then expand to serve bigger vehicles.
These illegal crossings are created without the SRT's permission and have no safety measures in place.
The state railways expects to complete the installation of barriers and warning signal systems by the end of next year.
ACM Prajin has instructed the SRT to divert budgets set aside for low-priority issues to fund the barrier installation project instead, said Pornsutti Thongsard, chief of a bureau attached to the SRT governor's office.
Out of a total 2,517 railway crossings, 1,359 require either automatic barrier or warning-light systems to be installed for safety reasons, he said.
Of this number, only 775 have been approved by the SRT as official crossing spots, he said.
The SRT had planned to begin installing the systems one after another, Mr Pornsutti said.
However, ACM Prajin thought that approach might be too slow, so he ordered budgets to be diverted to fund them.
The state railway will try to install as many crossing barrier systems as it can this year.
By the end of next year, all the crossings will be equipped with barrier systems, Mr Pornsutti said.
The SRT estimates it can install at least 614 this year at a total cost of 461 million baht.
Under this budget, 58 million baht will go on funding the installation of warning-light systems at 584 crossings. The other 403 million baht will be spent on installation of automatic crossing barrier systems at 130 railway crossings.