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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SAFER-LC (SAFER Level Crossing by integrating and optimizing road-rail infrastructure management and design)

Teaser

Summary

Collisions at LCs can have catastrophic consequences costing human lives and causing significant economic loss. ERA figures showed in 2012-2016 that there was an average per year of 498 significant LC accidents in the EU resulting in average of 300 fatalities and 281 serious injuries. The average LC accident (recorded and classified as significant at EU level) costs as much as EUR 1.7 million (ERA, 2014) in Europe.

LCs form the interface between road and rail thus the safety management of LCs is a shared responsibility for both road and rail operators. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that only a cross-modal approach could provide an efficient solution. The topic is also cross-cutting and encompasses both human factors and technological issues. For this reason, it was decided that a multidisciplinary partnership would form the most appropriate basis for SAFER-LC.

The SAFER-LC project vision is to design smarter and cost-effectively LCs that will contribute to near eradication of infrastructure-generated accidents by providing proactive detection methods and innovative design of infrastructure which is forgiving and self-explaining to LC users, with special attention to vulnerable users (for example: people with reduced mobility, pedestrians or cyclists).

The project will focus both on technical solutions, such as smart detection services and advanced infrastructure-to-vehicle communication systems and on human processes to adapt infrastructure design to end-users and to enhance coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders from different transportation modes.

A series of pilot tests across Europe will be rolled out to demonstrate how these new technological and non-technological solutions can be integrated, validate their feasibility and evaluate their performance. The challenge is also to demonstrate that the proposed solutions are acceptable by both rail and road users and can be implemented cost-effectively.

Finally, SAFER-LC will develop a toolbox accessible through a user-friendly interface which will integrate all the project results and solutions to help both rail and road managers to improve safety at level crossings.

Work performed

The project started with WP1 which is now completed with the following achievements:
- The identification and analysis of regional disparities in Europe and beyond. This analysis was based on the collection of information from relevant experts and operational staff on technical aspects (automation, management and maintenance) as well as organisational and legal aspects (such as responsibilities, ethical issues and cooperation between road and rail). Information was received from twenty-four countries in Europe and beyond.
- The analysis of the existing railway accident databases from seven countries, namely Greece, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Spain and Turkey and provided the typical factors behind LC accidents as well as some recommendations for the LC database contents.
- The definition of needs and requirements of Infrastructure Managers in terms of LC automation were described in the light of knowledge and feedback on experience from road and rail IMs (through interviews and a dedicated workshop). Based on the most critical risks identified, several scenarios were built concerning risk assessment, smart detection system, optimized closure time of the barrier, early detection of failures on the LCs, and communication systems to be further developed in WP3 and WP4.

Based on the results of WP1, WP2 developed
- The state of the art of LC safety analysis with the identification of key safety indicators concerning human errors and violations
- The first version of the â€œHuman Factor Methodological Framework and application guide for testingâ€ which is now ready to be applied and validated in the WP4 project trials.
-New human-centred low-cost countermeasures including technological measures and non-technological measures to enhance the safety of current LC infrastructures.

In parallel and based on the scenarios described in WP1, WP3 has developed technological solutions to improve safety at level crossings as well as at working zones through sharing information and giving warnings to trains/vehicles approaching/arriving to level crossings and to workers at or near train passing zones. Results expected for the period and deliverable on proof-of-concept on data acquisition platform has been completed. Possible scenarios to be tested in field has been defined. These include object detection and dangerous behaviours as part of the risk evaluation system and smart detection system, as well as LC displacement levels as part of monitoring infrastructure surface condition. These scenarios will be tested in field and will be evaluated in WP4.

WP4 has started with the description of each test site including the layout and capabilities as well as the safety measures, data and indicators that will be tested and obtained from each one of them. In addition, a detailed list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as be defined and will be the basis for the evaluation of measures to be developed at later stages. The implementation and testing plan of each test site and pilot have been collected and discussed with the pilot responsible partners. Task 4.3 supports the pilot test leaders in identifying the safety effects of the piloted measure(s) and in planning the evaluation method for each pilot test and the data collection needed for the evaluation.

WP5 which objective is to perform a cost benefit analysis and provide final recommendations, will be based on the data collected in the demonstration phase (WP4). A comprehensive state of the art review regarding the various techniques to perform Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) for transport applications, and particularly in railways, was carried out. A comparison between CBA and CEA was also discussed in relation with the SAFER-LC context. A workshop focusing on CBA was organized to get imputs for the development of the harmonized method that will be used to evaluate the SAFER-LC measures.

All the developments are done a in compliance with the ethic

Final results

SAFER-LC will provide
- LC accident prevention by reducing human error and unsafe behaviour related to infrastructure design;
- New system to raise human awareness about incident/accident prevention at LCs;
- Particular attention to vulnerable users;
- Smart detection of risky situations, infrastructure failures or degradation which may lead to accident;
- Better cooperation between road and rail stakeholders with provision of comprehensive information;
- Technical system/operational process integration to form a solid and practical pro-active security system, harnessing the synergy between road and rail.

SAFER-LC project will demonstrate, in situ, the potential technical solutions to allow communication between LC users and operators. The mitigation of human error will lead to the reduction in number or elimination of accidents and near-accidents (which are almost never reported) hinges on properly adapted technical solutions deployed within an appropriate human, legal and organisational framework.