The environment, operating conditions, global regulatory requirements andmaintenance strategies of railways can impose the railways' operation to the wide range of the risks, whereas the significance of risk management, theindustry must identify the most common ones to operators and infrastructuremanagers.
Collisionscan occur between two or more trains, between trains and infrastructure ortrains and external obstacles such as vehicles, people, and animals. Collisionsbetween cars travelling in opposite directions at higher speeds are exceedinglyrare but the consequences are usually serious. Railways install signallingsystems which their implications for ensuring the separation of trains andreach Safety Integrity Level (SIL) of at least 2 which means safetyavailability is not less than 99 per cent and utmost 99.9 per cent. More commonoccurrences include low-speed accidents in specific zooms like stations, depotsand marshalling yards. Train collisions can have several causes: signal passingat danger (S.P.A.D), wrong routing in signalling systems, exceeding trackallowable speed, division of trains, poor wheel-rail adhesion, and othertechnical and human errors.
Derailmentsremain most frequent with severe financial consequent although those leading tosignificant injury or loss of life are increasingly rare. They often involvejust one train by default, but risks will arise when a derailed train fouls anadjacent running line.
Derailmentsare often related to technical hazards such as defects in track geometry,switches or crossings, wear and fatigue failure in the wheel-rail interaction,vehicle suspension system failures. Operator errors such as incorrect routesetting, excessive crossing speed mostly in the switching area and poor drivingbehaviour can also result in derailments as can track.
Therailway industry combats the risk of derailment by implementing predictive andpreventive asset management and important levels of staff competencethrough comprehensive related training.
Asthe safety of passengers on trains is important, the lives among rail territoryoften arise at its external interfaces, boundaries, level crossings andstations. The warning devices provided at level crossings vary from simplesignage to full barriers with complex object detection that depends on thelocation and use. However, the most common accidents result from violations byroad users ignoring the warning of approaching trains. Accidents at user-workedcrossings in rural areas are also common.
Trespasserspresent a common risk, particularly in densely populated areas as well asoverhead side station exchanges. Serious injuries and fatalities are common andwhilst they do not represent a significant risk to passengers, such eventscause both serious disruption/psychological trauma to the victim’s family,railway staff (especially drivers) and emergency services who must respond to them.
Despitethe prominent level of safety achieved for rail users, Railways havetraditionally been a high-risk industry for staff regarding
workerhealth and safety. Track workers are especially vulnerable due to theirexposure to moving trains, high voltage electricity, and even switch tonguescould be as dangerous as alligators. Meanwhile, the Railway Operators (Ros) haschosen a range of measures which have improved worker safety includingsafe-working procedures on track, equipping staffs with high-visibilityclothing and signs, safety culture improvement, permits to work and varioustechnologies to alert the workers of approaching trains.
Thekey risks at stations are typically slips, trips, and falls (particularly onfloors, stairs, and escalators), boarding and alighting incidents at theplatform in the interface between the train and platform edge. This risk isoverwhelmed over the historical lines or dual type of rolling stock in one linein case of modernization. Security of both staff and passengers should becontrolled to allow safe free movement in heavily used stations is also aconcern. The range of measures used to control these risks range from carefuldesign of stations, clear signage, and use of CCTV to staff training,cooperation with police and security services, and technological solutions suchas the use of platform screen doors (PSD), audible alarms in maintenanceworkshops and vision-based obstacle detection devices in the station railtracks.
Unfortunately,trains are one of the attractive and frequently selected means to be used bythose wishing to end their own lives. It is common for underground railways andmetros. In addition to the victim and their relatives, this can lead to ashortage of drivers and emergency staff due to the current regulation that theyneed to be supervised for at least 6 months to be able to role as before intheir positions.
Railwaysare often used for carrying dangerous goods such as chemicals, petrol,liquefied gases, liquid gases, and nuclear waste. These goods could act asmovable exclusive missiles on the tract if Railway Operators (Ros) be carelessto them. These require a range of measures to control the risk which mayinclude special train formations, improved maintenance of vehicles and track,routing away from heavily populated areas and special handling and security,likewise be noticeable in responding to their near misses.
