Seminar by Dr. António Ramos Andrade from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon

We are pleased to invite you to attend a hybrid seminar on Friday 23/Jan at 13.00-14.30

Meeting room Freja on 1.5 floor of Teknikringen 8 or zoom https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/64100503601

The invited speaker is Dr. António Ramos Andrade from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon. He is an expert on transport safety assessment.

Abstract of this lecture:

2021 was the European Year of Rail. Railways must become more competitive and innovative within the transportation system, as well as more sustainable, reliable and safer throughout Europe. Risk and safety assessments in railway systems are crucial to ensure a competitive railway transport, with high levels of reliability and availability, while minimising the maintenance costs and safety incidents and accidents. The European railway network has consistently maintained a high degree of safety over the years, making it one of the safest in the world. However, the progress has not followed the same pace in terms of their safety levels among the European countries. In 2020, the EU-27 railways recorded 687 fatalities and 469 serious injuries. More recently, the 2023 railway accidents in Thessaly (Greece), with 57 death and 85 injuries, and outside Europe, in Odisha (India), with 288 death and 1200 injuries, serve as examples of how safety incidents within this sector can have catastrophic consequences. In Portugal, a train collision occurred in the main line, involving a maintenance vehicle and a long-distance fast passenger train. This accident resulted in 2 fatalities, more than 40 injuries, and a considerable economic impact. The subsequent investigation uncovered that the accident was due to a Signal Passed At Danger (SPAD) caused by an error made by the maintenance vehicle crew. Moreover, it was concluded that the technological evolution of the railway system, as the signalling, communications, and operating systems, lead to a reduction in risk mitigation procedures. Therefore, a better understanding of the numerous factors that influence SPADs occurrence in railways is still needed, through a more comprehensive risk and safety model.

If there is any question, please call William Liu +46 736441420.