Abstract:

The railway safety in Korea is threatened due to the restructuring of the railway industries, introduction of the Korea Train eXpress (KTX) and electrification of the conventional lines. Many technical arrangements are to be improved to control railway accidents as low as reasonably practicable, such as a railway safety act, safety standards, and safety assessment infrastructures. With the support of the Korean government the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) is conducting an integrated R&D program for improvement of the railway safety, of which the target is to reduce the accident fatalities by half. The program is composed of three parts; the safety system engineering and the program management, the establishment of a safety management system, and the development of techniques for assessing and preventing major railway accidents. Details of the research programs are explained in this paper, where risk is used as the major control measure.
Received from the Guest Editor on July 31, 2006
References: 08