Íarnród Éireann has appealed for all road users including pedestrians and cyclists to act safely at level crossings, with latest figures showing that there have been 71 incidents at crossings so far this year.
The company says that 30 of these incidents resulted in injury to the person attempting to cross, or damage to the crossing itself.
It adds that the majority of level crossing incidents involve road vehicles hitting crossing gates or barriers, resulting in damage to the crossing.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Íarnród Éireann spokesperson Jane Cregan said recent CCTV footage indicated that there is "really unsafe behaviour" occurring at level crossings across the country.
"It is something that we are extremely concerned about. It is car users, other heavy vehicle users, and indeed pedestrians and cyclists," she said.
She said it is an offence to go through a level crossing when the barriers are down or going down, adding that it was also extremely unsafe for the person on the road and those onboard the oncoming train.
She said people might be distracted, busy or in a rush, but their haste could end in a tragic incident.
Ms Cregan said the statistics suggest that the top ten level crossings where incidents have occurred are in urban areas.
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The most frequent locations involved in incidents are Sutton (13 incidents), Serpentine (8), Sydney Parade (8), Lansdowne Rd (7), Bray (6), Sandymount (5), Merrion (4), Clonsilla (2) and Baldoyle (2).
"In other parts of the country, particularly in the West and in the South, we have a lot of what is known as user-operated level crossings. Where the road user has to get out of the car or get off their bike to open the crossing, cross when it is safe to do so and close the crossing again," she said.
She added: "And obviously there is a risk with these because particularly if people do not close the gates, and we will be appealing to everyone to close the gates, but these top ten level crossings, they are all what is known as CCTV barrier operated level crossings, so they are controlled from a central control centre, so there is no emphasis on anybody to get out of the car to open or close gates that is all done.
"But yet, we still see the largest incidents happening at these types of crossings."
The company says it is continuing to install further train detection warning systems at user-operated level crossings around the country. Such measures are now in place at 36 such crossings, with a further four to be commissioned in the coming weeks.
There are currently 902 level crossings on the Iarnród Éireann network, consisting of a combination of automated CCTV crossings, manned crossings and unmanned user operated crossings.
Íarnród Éireann says it is trying to reduce this number. Having closed 93 crossings since 2014, it is now seeking to remove seven more on the Cork rail network.
"The reason for this is safety," Ms Cregan said, adding "at level crossings we have to operate at a lower speed, so if we could take out these level crossings, we would be able to have a faster journey time between Heuston and Cork and obviously that is something that we would like to have as well."
