51 of the 1.5 million trains covering around 100 million kilometres in Belgium's main rail network passed through a red signal in 2024, according to rail manager Infrabel on Thursday.
This represents a slight decrease of 5.5% compared to the 54 cases recorded the previous year. None of these incidents led to any accidents.
Infrabel emphasised that passing through a red signal does not always pose an immediate danger. The risk arises when the affected train reaches the intersection with another track beyond the ignored signal. Last year, this occurred in 14 out of the 51 cases, a decrease from the 31.5% recorded in 2023.
The European Train Control System (ETCS) continually monitors train speed and can automatically brake if the driver disobeys signals, thereby reducing the risk of serious accidents. Analysis of the 2024 data shows that the ETCS had to intervene on one potentially dangerous occasion, but ruled out any risk of collision.
In 2024, an additional 1,085 kilometres were equipped with the ETCS, bringing the coverage to 79% of the main network's tracks, which totals 5,058 km.
On secondary tracks, where trains typically travel under 40 km/h and are usually empty, the number of red signal violations also decreased from 44 in 2023 to 40 cases in 2024.
