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Mr Mackay said Saturday's crash, which happened at the Hoy junction around noon, underlined the need for action to be taken.

"Momentum is building on this issue and I think what happened at the weekend will strengthen the argument for the barriers," he told the Caithness Courier.

"I will be contacting Network Rail to express my concern about ungated crossings and the need to have full barriers. I will also be getting in touch with the health and safety department as I would like to know their thoughts on this and what they have to say."

The weekend accident came just over three months after three elderly people were killed when their car was in a collision with a northbound train at the Bridge Street crossing in Halkirk.

Last month, Mr Mackay said he was "horrified" to discover the lights at the Hoy rail crossing were showing red although no train was on the line. He was in a queue of traffic at the time and pointed out that some drivers got out of their vehicles and looked up and down the track, saw nothing coming and went over the crossing.

"How many more fatalities or near-fatalities have there to be before we get these barriers installed?" asked the councillor. He considered that the incident on Saturday could have resulted in the loss of life if the train had been going faster.

"The only way round this problem is to install full, not half, barriers at ungated crossings," said Mr Mackay.

Network Rail has claimed such a move would be expensive as it would cost around £1 million to install each barrier, but the councillor took issue with that figure.

"I can't believe they would cost £1 million each. That would seem very extravagant," he said.

Mr Mackay revealed that since he spoke out last month about the lights coming on at the crossing at Hoy when no train was on the line, he has received calls from people saying they have experienced the same thing. One person told him he waited about 20 minutes before the lights went off.

According to a Network Rail spokesman, the bad weather in December resulted in a frozen treadle causing the difficulty, but Mr Mackay said one of the people who contacted him reported a similar problem during the summer.

The councillor is to pass on his concerns to Highlands and Islands SNP MSP Dave Thompson who has been at the forefront of a campaign to improve safety at ungated crossings.

Another Landward Caithness councillor has called for a full-scale safety review at ungated crossings following the weekend crash at Hoy.

David Flear said: "The fact that no-one was seriously injured is, of course, the main thing. But it is very worrying that we have had another incident at a crossing just a few months after we lost three people on a crossing at the other side of the village."

Mr Flear is unhappy the Scottish Government has not turned words into action since the tragedy.

He said: "There was a great drive in September by the Scottish Government, Network Rail and others to come up with a solution to the safety concerns about unmanned level crossings. There's been plenty talk but no sign of real, positive action." The councillor praised the train drivers' union ASLEF for imposing lower speed limits on approaching crossings.

"There's little doubt that if the train had been going at 50 miles per hour, we would have had another fatality. That we haven't has resulted from the action taken by the union - not the Government or Network Rail or the train operators," he said.

Mr Flear said he would be urging the council to make further representations about the need for a full-scale safety review.

Highlands and Islands MSP Dave Thompson also called for urgent action to be taken to prevent further accidents.

Mr Thompson said it was fortunate that no-one was killed in the accident. "Obviously, I am very concerned to hear there has been another accident at an open level crossing in the Highlands.

"Fortunately, nobody appears to have been seriously hurt this time but this goes to show that this type of accident will continue to keep happening until barriers are installed for the safety of motorists, rail staff and train passengers," he said.

The latest incident happened in the week that Mr Thompson's major consultation exercise on safety at ungated rail crossings came to an end.

In December almost 14,000 residents close to open level crossings within his Highlands and Islands constituency received a letter asking for their views on the issue.

Mr Thompson and his staff have begun to collate the responses and the final results will be copied to the transport minister by the end of January.

Early indications have been that an overwhelming number of the 2500-plus responses have come from people who believe barriers should be installed.

"This latest incident adds impetus to my campaign for gates to be installed on this type of crossing," the MSP added.

Nancy Nicolson, whose aunt Margaret Mackay was one of three people killed in the rail crash at Bridge Street, Halkirk, last year, was pleased the person in the van received only minor injuries but expressed her concern about the lack of progress being made regarding improved safety.

"This is a serious worry for the drivers involved in an incident of this type. Day and daily they face numerous ungated crossings between Caithness and Inverness.

"At any one of them a car could materialise in front of their engine. That's unacceptable and underlines the urgency of effective action now. These crossings have got to be gated," she said.

The latest accident happened after a van and a northbound Sprinter train were in collision at the Hoy crossing. The 20-year-old van driver escaped with minor injuries and was taken to Caithness General Hospital in Wick where he was treated for the effects of shock and a wrist injury.

The A836 between Hoy and Halkirk was closed but reopened on Sunday afternoon. A Network Rail team checked that the lights were working properly at the time and a five-strong team from British Transport Police also travelled north to launch an investigation. The five passengers and three staff aboard the train were unhurt. The passengers completed their journey by taxi to Wick.

The accident occurred when the two-carriage Sprinter was on the final leg of the run from Inverness. As a result of the incident the van driver was trapped in his vehicle and firefighters had to release him by cutting through the passenger door.

Chief Inspector Matthew Reiss, who is Northern Constabulary's area commander for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, refused to speculate on whether the low sun or the slush-covered road surface could have played a part in the accident.

He said: "British Transport Police have the lead role in the investigation and these are undoubtedly factors they will consider."

A Glasgow spokesman for the British Transport Police yesterday confirmed that a 20-year-old man has been charged following the accident.

"A report has gone to the procurator fiscal's office in Wick in connection with the incident on Saturday," he said.

g.calder@nosn.co.uk