Train drivers drove through red lights 175 times last year, the Telegraaf reports on Thursday quoting a confidential transport ministry report.

In 2011, there were 155 incidents, prompting major investment in better security systems to stop potential crashes, the Telegraaf says.

Trains are now equipped with systems that automatically bring them to a halt if they ignore a red light and are travelling at less than 40 kph.

However, a spokesman for Dutch railway firm NS denied there had been an increase in drivers driving through red lights. ‘In our figures, the number has gone down from 95 to 93,’ the spokesman said.

Crash

Last April, 190 people were injured and an elderly woman died when an intercity and a local train ploughed into each other just minutes away from Amsterdam’s central station.

Both trains were on the same track because work was being carried out on the tracks and the local train driver drove through a red light.