Safety - Articles and news items

Portugal – plans, projects and priorities

Issue 4 2006, Past issues / 28 July 2006 /

In the wake of Directive 440/91 CEE, Portugal decided to set up a new model for the railway sector.

The ProRail outsourcing way

Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 14 February 2006 /

ProRail, the owner of the Dutch railway network, has gone further than most European rail infrastructure companies in putting maintenance and renewal work out to tender. James Abbott, European Railway Review’s Technical Editor asks the questions that matter to two of ProRail’s employees – Mr. Jan Swier, Strategic Advisor for Maintenance and Renewals and Mr. Anthonie Bauer, Director of Infrastructure Management.

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Network safety – caring for the future

Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 14 February 2006 /

Network safety is an issue for both railway undertakings and infrastructure managers, not only with regard to ensuring railway safety but also with regard to establishing a manage-ment system that will guarantee safety remains affordable.

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The start of a new century for Norwegian railways

Issue 3 2005, Past issues / 23 August 2005 /

Norwegian railway history is both long and eventful, as was evident in 2004 when we celebrated its 150th anniversary. Besides offering a chance for a nostalgic look back, the anniversary year also provided an excellent opportunity for looking forward. In actual fact, the year 2004 provided many causes for celebration.

We experienced growth in both passenger and freight traffic, and never before in the history of Norwegian railways has punctuality been better. Achieving an average punctuality rate in rail traffic of more than 90 per cent is a remarkable feat given how much of the Norwegian rail network is single track. (more…)

The GNER approach

Issue 1 2005, Past issues / 2 March 2005 /

A RADICAL overhaul of driver training – that was East Coast intercity rail operator GNER’s response to industry-wide concerns raised by the Cullen inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove rail accident, plus the company’s ongoing challenge to attract new train drivers to join the business.

On 5th October 1999, a passenger train passed a red signal at Ladbroke Grove in West London before colliding with a high speed passenger train. As a result of the collision and the subsequent fires, 31 people died and over 400 others were injured. The public inquiry into the accident, chaired by Lord Cullen, made 163 recommendations, indicating the lessons to be learned from what happened in many areas including the training of drivers.

Meanwhile, feedback from GNER’s drivers and trainers suggested that traditional classroom based ‘chalk and talk’ methods to learn the rules, combined with long periods of driver observation, dubbed ‘Sitting with Nellie’, was too passive in its approach. It was also not always suited to the type of person attracted to the job of a train driver and led to potentially important gaps in performance amongst newly qualified drivers.

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