Monika Lilles, the communications manager of EVR, said the installation of level crossings has been delayed due to the coronavirus.

Last year the company signed an €11 million deal with Spanish company Ingenieria y Control Ferroviario for the installation of 103 crossings and nine automated crossings.

Speaking about the crossing at Veerenni, Lilles said: "It is planned that by the end of this year, an audible alarm and a traffic light should be installed."

Lilles added the Veerenni crossing safety fence will be extended by approximately 700 meters.

The development of automation railroad crossings will begin at Kitseküla and Veerenni in Tallinn. Some of the other crossings which will receive audible warning signals and traffic lights are located in Kehra, Aegviidu, Jõhvi and Raasiku.

The Spanish company is tasked with designing, supplying, installing and carrying out all necessary work. The volume of the procurement also includes the development of a monitoring system for crossings as well as the construction of electricity supply in the railroad network.

Of EVR's 150 railroad crossings, 36 have been equipped with barriers. Many drivers cross rail lines recklessly and in the first have of 2019, more than 50 people were killed on train tracks. Last year rail operators issued a hard-hitting safety video showing near misses.

By 2024, however, no unregulated crossings or crossings without barriers will remain along sections of rail with busy passenger rail traffic on the company's infrastructure.

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