cape-town
Presentation
cape-town
JR East announced to introduce a driver-only operation on some lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area between 2025 and 2030. Driver-only operation is common on JR rural lines, and some private railways in the Tokyo metropolitan area are also implementing it, but this is the first time for JR lines in Tokyo. Five lines including Yamanote Line were indicated as routes aiming to introduce driver-only operation. JR East currently conducts driver-only operation on 48 of the 66 conventional line sections, and training on actual lines and on trains using a simulator that supports driver-only operation are used to improve driver skills.
To implement driver-only operation, it is also necessary to improve station facilities such as platform doors, modify the rolling stock necessary for driver-only operation, and introduce ATO (automatic train operation). JR East has announced that it will aim for “driverless driving” in the future, along with driver-only operation. Driverless means the vehicle without a driver but a staff who does not have a driving license will be on board. However, there is a big technical hurdle between “driver-only operation” and “driverless” operation, and it is not so easy to jump over. Conversely, automatic driving cannot be realized without ATO, ATC, and platform doors. Against this background, JR East has indicated a policy to expand the introduction of ATO and ATACS (radio train control system), which is an evolved form of ATC.
A major issue in driverless operation is how to deal with abnormalities, such as ensuring safety on the train track, guiding passengers to evacuation, and handling operations after an emergency stop. To ensure safety on train tracks is “separation from the surrounding environment.”
Most importantly, we are considering the introduction of a railroad crossing obstacle detection device that detects when a car is parked inside the railroad crossing, and a device that stops the train if the barrier is not lowered. Furthermore, it is also necessary to develop and evaluate sensor technology to deal with obstacles in front of the train.
There is no doubt that in the future there is driverless driving even on routes with railroad crossings. By 2030, after driveronly operation has been realized on the Yamanote Line, the development of driverless operation is likely to be considered on each line, but there are many issues that must be resolved.
Considering train-related incidents in recent years, at this stage to foresee the extent to which discussions on safety on trains and the realization of “driverless” can be achieved is difficult, but we will make proposals based on safety perspectives and workplace conditions.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
October 14 is Japan’s Railroad Day as the first railroad in Japan opened between Shinbashi and Yokohama on that day in 1872. And year 2022 marked the 150th anniversary of the opening of the railroad. The number of railroad users, however, has declined due to the population decline in rural regions and the mode change to privately owned cars at a pace that exceeds the rate of population decline nationwide. Due to the spread of the corona infection, it became an “unacceptable level of significant deficit”, and highlighting the disadvantages of privatization.
Under such circumstances, February 14, 2022, the first meeting of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLITT) “Study Group on Renovating Regional Mobility through Collaboration between Railway Business Operators and Regions” was held, and the proposal was made at the 5th meeting (July 2022).
In the meeting, the MLITT study group announced the cost per kilometer traveled by railway and bus for the first time and revealed that 5,354 yen for railway (JR) while 491 yen for buses nationwide, which is less than one-tenth of the cost for railways.
At the MLITT study group, there is an opinion that “JR companies, which have taken over profitable routes such as the Shinkansen and accumulated a large amount of internal reserves, should not use the temporary decline in revenue and profit due to the corona crisis as a reason for abolishing or reducing railway route. Instead, the companies should try to maintain and improve the convenience of transportation services indispensable to the region.”
On October 11, 2022, in accordance with the recommendations of the MLITT’s study group, it was reported that the Liberal Democratic Party’s railroad parliamentary union and bus parliamentary union will work to create a new law that the government will support by setting standards for the maintenance and abolition of railways and other routes. And the bill was passed “those who are summoned to the Reconstruction Council must basically respond to the council unless the MLITT approves.” Therefore, we must change our mindset and strengthen our relationship with the local community to participate in the council.
Looking at the current business situation, which has returned to profitability with the fixed rate a railway that is needed from, assets inherited from the National Railways and the scheme at the time of JR’s inauguration, the abolition of the easy lossmaking route that pursues only profits will lead to the decline of the region and the disappointment of the residents. It provokes resentment. We will make proposals aimed at railways based on the premise of safety that residents, users, and employees will understand and be favorable to them.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
For more than three decades, the European Union (EU) has been working on setting up a Single European Railway Area. This consists in creating a single railway market with the right conditions to increase the railway modal share compared to other more polluting means of transport. To achieve these goals, the EU has implemented policies pursuing the following objectives: national markets opening to foreign operators; technical and operational standardisation to increase the interoperability of national systems; and developing and facilitating cross-border railway connections. However, since EU Member States have developed their own technical and organisational characteristics over more than a century, several operational barriers to international traffic persist, one of the most significant ones been the diversity of languages used in railway operations. In fact, the EU recognises 24 official languages, and unlike the aviation sector, there is no unique language in the European railway area. France alone has 33 border sections with 9 different countries and 5 languages used in cross-border operations.
Managing this linguistic diversity creates many organisational difficulties for operators. EU regulation requires train drivers and some other staff to prove a given level of proficiency in the foreign language when they work abroad. This requirement makes recruitment harder and generates additional costs for companies. Mastering language diversity is also safety-critical, due to possible cases of miscommunication between operators, and the need to manage multiple intermediaries in the exchange of information, especially in emergency situations.
Communication and interfaces between actors are key elements in railway operations, and for this reason addressing the issues related to language are essential for the development of railway transport between countries: which solutions can be implemented to overcome this obstacle and to promote interoperability ensuring a high level of railway safety?
The French National Safety Authority (EPSF) supervises railway safety and supports the development of railway interoperability in Europe. Thus, EPSF intervenes in the debate and supports concrete projects to overcome the language barriers in various ways: at operational level, helping railway actors in developing concrete solutions; through dialogue with decision-makers, contributing to regulatory developments; and with research institutes, to anticipate the impact of innovative communication tools. Therefore, EPSF has
a horizontal and multidisciplinary view on the issue and for this reason it wishes to share its experience on the different possible solutions, their advantages and disadvantages.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
Modern railway routes often involve multiple independent companies, including infrastructure managers and rolling stock operators. In these circumstances, information and skill sharing across rolling stock operators is restricted by commercial competition. Furthermore, technical interaction between “above rail” and “below rail” stakeholders is limited because the technical experts are employed by different organisations. As a result, favourable collaboration can be lower than it might have been in the past amongst departments in vertically integrated railways.
This paper describes how the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR) improved collaboration between independent railway companies on a freight route in New South Wales, Australia. The route includes a difficult descent with a history of three train runaway incidents since 2017. ONRSR investigated the incidents, focussing on a major runaway and derailment in December 2020, and found rolling stock, human factors, and infrastructure causal elements. It was concluded that experts in these subjects from all the stakeholder companies should collaborate to improve safety. So, ONRSR brought the companies, consisting of a rail infrastructure manager and five rolling stock operators together at a forum where it shared its findings and safety observations. The companies’ experts were invited to reflect on these findings, share their experience, and to collaborate in identifying opportunities to reduce risks of
further incidents.
The paper highlights the multi-disciplinary nature of railway operations, and hence the importance of collaboration in assessing incidents and improving safety. A significant result of the work presented in this paper is that the infrastructure manager and rolling stock operators are now conducting joint risk assessments, including identifying additional potential risk controls such as sharing train handling and crew skilling methods, standardising on managing brake cut-outs and testing, and introducing new engineering controls.
The paper concludes that there are benefits to working together to improve safety on multi-stakeholder railway routes. The case presented is a good example of how such benefits can be realised. Finally, the paper concludes that the forum, initiated and facilitated by a safety regulator, might be considered a useful model for improving collaboration, and hence positively reshaping operations on
shared rail corridors.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
The French National Safety Authority (NSA) has developed a risk-based tool to prioritise and optimise its supervision strategy. This is part of a larger project to drive an internal digital transformation, placing a priority on relying more on data for decision-making and safety supervision. The external environment is changing. For 25 years, European Union policy has been focusing on establishing a single European railway area as its main goal. In the 2000s, rail markets for freight and international passenger travel opened to competition. Domestic passenger rail has gradually followed suit since December 2019. Consequently, the number of train operating companies and railway infrastructure managers might double by 2026 in France. Supervision the safety of the country’s rail system is one of the activities of the French NSA, which is done through various checks such as audits and inspections. In this context of increasing number of railway operators, a decision-making tool has been developed to prioritise which companies and which categories of safety events should be audited and inspected. For example, train operating companies are grouped into priority classes according to different risk levels. This classification is based on: The amount of traffic of each company.
Companies safety performance measured using an annual internal evaluation of each company. Years of experience and results of previous controls are considered. Data are useful to understand, quantify and classify. This allows to remove subjective elements from decision and as a result, to commit to a risk-based strategy. Now the French NSA uses this tool to prioritise audits and inspections and to adapt their duration and frequency. For instance, if a company gets the highest priority, then the French NSA will frequently audit all its safety management system. On the contrary, if a company gets a lower priority, the audits will be less frequent, shorter and they will focus just on parts of this company’s safety management system. This paper describes the methodology which has been developed by the French NSA in its supervision strategy. Half based on company’s safety performance, half on undesired events with the aim of one side, a company’s cartography and, on the other side, two undesired events matrix.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
European rail safety is based on the application of European and national regulatory texts and certificates which are issued by organizations carrying out conformity assessment. However, for supporting the regulatory framework, there is a long tradition of cooperation between stakeholders mainly ensured by international organisations such as Union International des Chemins de Fer (UIC), standardization bodies (CEN, CENELEC, ISO) and European co-operation for accreditation Sharing and exchanging on understanding of the requirements to be verified at lower level and reaching a common way of working and common conclusions are key points and fundamentals for pushing the cooperation between the conformity assessment bodies. After more than 12 years of cooperation, organized by the European Railway Agency, with those conformity assessment bodies (accredited, recognized or designated by their member state), different results and achievements have been concluded where the focus has always been the same: safety first while ensuring economic sustainability. These objectives have been pursued diligently through the application of regulatory texts and with the application of some recommendations for use by the conformity assessments bodies The article presents the different cooperations, which are either voluntary or compulsory, their implementation difficulties, the progress that has enabled greater collaboration and the understanding of regulatory text. It focusses also on the keys for success in terms of competencies, leadership, trust in the system, flexibility and the role of animation taken by the Agency, These cooperations allow a common approach within Europe and bring robustness to the European railway regulatory system and could be examples to improve the safety culture between the different railway stakeholders.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
Safety incidents on railway track are closely linked to the geographical layout of the track infrastructure, vehicle dynamics and behaviour, human behaviour and external factors ranging from environmental impact to human and animal presence on the rail reserve, especially in developing countries. These factors are often studied in isolation and important correlations are ignored or simply overseen. Due to the difficulty of quantifying and measuring vehicle, infrasturcture and human interventions simultaneously, progress and technological advancement to improve rail safety in this regard, are lagging.
The University of Pretoria has recently developed a road and rail infrastructure condition monitoring vehicle to combine the most advanced infrastructure and vehicle condition measurements with digital mapping and sophisticated computational analytics. Aspects that are monitored and measured by the road/rail vehicle include track geoemtry, vehicle dynamics, high-definition video and Light Detection and Randing (LiDAR). This paper describes the methodology developed to interpret an analyse these data for the creation of a geographical track model that can be used to consider a range of safety-critical aspects on the rail network. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorythms are used to predict track geometry from vehicle dynamics and to highlight the fundamental relationships and correlations between track geometry and vehicle dynamics. The aspects that affect ride quality and passenger comfort are also identified with the aim of improving customer satisfaction. A method was also developed to identify pedestrain crossings over a railway line from LiDAR data. The results from point cloud analysis and manipulation are correlated with visual observations taken on an existing railway line in South Africa.
The paper concludes with a discussion on the applications and benefits of the developed technologies with emphasis on the realisation of a safer rail network for all its users. Recommendations for further research include automation of the analysis procedures as well as additional AI enhancements to the current developments.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
In today’s high-risk rail industry, the demanding nature of the work, the fast pace, and resource constraints often lead to variations in task demands and resource allocation, placing significant strain on rail workers and requiring them to adapt in unforeseen ways. This variability, characterized by workarounds and human errors, has direct implications for both individual and system accidents. To address this variability, organizations within the rail industry must develop the capability to identify and mitigate errors, while establishing consistent work processes that enable positive control of built-in hazards and precision execution of high-risk work when dealing with the transfer of energy, movement of mass, or transmission of critical information.
The purpose of this presentation is to present proven methodologies that will enhance your organization’s work planning, preparation (including pre-work discussions such as job briefings, tailboards, and pre-job briefings), and execution activities. It aims to assist safety personnel, work planners, and supervisors in clearly defining precise goals and avoiding potential pitfalls during high-risk rail operations. The presentation places significant emphasis on the importance of cultivating a safety culture that prioritizes those actions that must go right and the capacity to “fail safely” when those actions go wrong.
To facilitate effective learning, this presentation will leverage cutting-edge technology in adult learning, specifically videobased training (VBT). By harnessing the power of visual immersive learning, VBT offers a faster and more comprehensive learning experience, enabling efficient and accurate coverage of presentation material.
The presentation will conclude with actionable solutions that stakeholders can readily implement, providing practical measures to enhance risk management in rail operations and foster a culture of safety throughout the industry.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
cape-town
The Channel Tunnel is a 51km long railway tunnel that connects Folkestone, England with Coquelles, France. In 2011, the Infrastructure Manager for the Channel Tunnel, Eurotunnel, began to investigate the feasibility of installing a high voltage, direct current interconnector through one of the Channel Tunnel bores, as an alternative to the usual route for those types of installation i.e. the sea bed. This was a world first project as although interconnectors had been previously installed into tunnels, one had never been installed in an operational rail tunnel.
Not only was this a first for Eurotunnel and their contractors, it was also the first time that the regulators and safety advisors had been faced with the task of assessing the safety implications of such a complex project and approving the installation. It was clear from an early stage of the project that a hybrid approach would need to be adopted by the binational authorities responsible for overseeing safety arrangements in the Channel Tunnel. In this respect, the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority (CTSA) acted as the safety advisory body to the National Safety Authority (NSA), which was the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) until January 2021, when the role spit between the IGC for the UK half of the tunnel and tablissement public de scurit ferroviaire (EPSF) for the French half.
The CTSA engaged with Eurotunnel at an early stage of the project and began developing the appropriate structures and forums for managing the safety assessment process. Additional resources were identified and procured by the CTSA to ensure that the necessary technical expertise was available to provide a qualified opinion on highly specialist issues such as electro-magnetic compatibility (EMC), energy release from cable faults, emergency scenarios and protection devices for high voltage systems. Additional personnel were also recruited to ensure that the requisite level of administrative support was available to manage the large quantity of technical documentation and to support the CTSA delegates with records of assessment activity. Regular coordination meetings (approximately 132 in total) were arranged between the UK and French authorities, together with Eurotunnel, its contractors and experts, to ensure that the assessment process was agreed and aligned, and that the output of third party, expert technical advice was properly considered.
The interconnector installation and energisation was completed in 2021, and following an extensive test programme was approved for commercial operation by the UK and French National Safety Authorities in 2022. Many lessons were learned through the assessment process and the authors look forward to sharing some of these with delegates via an oral presentation at the International Rail Safety Council in Cape Town later this year.
Year of Publications: 2023
Document: View
