Three investigations are under way into an accident at Woodfarm level crossing, the unmanned railway crossing at Dromkeen, Co Limerick, where a milk tanker driver was seriously injured in a collision with a train on Tuesday.
Iarnrod Eireann, the Department of Public Enterprise and the Health and Safety Authority are each investigating the incident, the Dail was told last night. The Minister of State for Public Enterprise, Mr Joe Jacob, said Woodfarm was a user-worked level crossing, where a motorist had to open both gates before driving across and then close them. Iarnrod Eireann reported that road users "persistently" left the gates open, he said.
The issue was raised by Mr Michael Noonan (FG, Limerick East) who said that there were some 2,000 such crossings in the State and these needed to be upgraded.
The driver of the milk tanker, Mr P.J. Bourke, was in a critical condition in Limerick Regional Hospital last night. His tanker collided with the early-morning service train from Limerick to Limerick Junction.