Cullen addresses International Railway Safety Conference

Date: 23 October 2006

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D. today (Monday, 23rd October 2006) gave the opening address at a major International Conference on Railway Safety. Over 120 delegates representing 20 countries are attending this five day event which is being hosted by Ireland for the first time.

The conference, which is being held in Dublin Castle, is a joint venture, organized by the Commission for Railway Safety in conjunction with industry colleagues in Northern Ireland.

Minister Cullen told the conference: “Pooling high level expertise and information between safety professionals from across the industry, including operators, railway accident investigators, transport regulators, transport authorities, employee interests and so on, can only result in improved safety values underpinning safety policy and practice on railway networks. The theme of the conference, Maintaining safety - keeping pace with change, depicts perfectly the current environment of the railway industry in Ireland particularly, and in Europe in general.”

He went on to speak on the major changes in Ireland’s railway network which have taken place over the last seven to eight years. A national drive has been made in this time to improve the safety of the railway system. This includes:-

· a substantial Railway Safety Investment Programme;

· the Railway Safety Act, 2005 - putting in place a new regulatory framework to underpin railway safety policy and practice; and

· the establishment of the Railway Safety Commission.

Since 1999, under the Railway Safety Programme, over €950 million has been invested in Ireland in railway safety. A key focus of this investment has been the upgrading and redevelopment of the rail network following a long period of under investment. Track-work on the entire network has been upgraded and the intercity network now has continuous welded track. Network resignalling has been completed on all of the mainline, and is being extended to regional lines such as Westport and Ballina and Rosslare. “We will have next year, one of the most modern rail fleets in Europe”, the Minister said.

The Railway Safety Programme has also prioritised the development of Irish Rail’s safety management systems with over €100 million invested in the practice and promotion of safety culture at all levels in the company. The conference will be focusing on human factors in railway safety tomorrow, (Tuesday).

Minister Cullen told delegates this morning that investment in railway safety will continue at a high level under the Government’s transport infrastructure development programme - Transport 21. Transport 21 provides for a major expansion in rail-based public transport services, particularly in the Dublin area, with the development of new railway lines but also elsewhere in the country with the re-opening of lines such as the Western Rail Corridor.

On railway safety, the Minister said that a key player in ensuring everyone’s confidence is the Railway Safety Commission which was established in January this year. “The Commission provides a more modern, and flexible way of independently overseeing the safety of our railways; covering the Iarnród Éireann network, LUAS, the planned Metro network, heritage railways and other railways which have an interface with a public road or another railway,” he said.

“While we unfortunately cannot deny the reality that railway accidents do occur and will continue to do so, it is worth noting that there has been no major accident with multiple fatalities on the Irish rail network for over twenty years. This of course is due, in no small part, to the diligence of the staff and management of the railway undertakings and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on this excellent safety record. However, the potential for serious accidents is with us all the time and we must always strive for best practice when it comes to railway safety”, stated the Minister.

“Conferences such as this one here in Dublin provide an opportunity for the practitioners of railway safety, to share knowledge and expertise and promote best practice. The focus in your programme for example, on human factors in railway safety is particularly welcome and highlights the need for railway undertakings to focus on training and improving the competence of staff, particularly safety critical staff”, Minister Cullen added.

Minister Cullen congratulated the conference organising committee, led by Mr John Welsby, the Commissioner for Railway Safety, along with representatives from Iarnrod Éireann, the Railway Procurement Agency, Veolia and the Department of Regional Development for Northern Ireland and wished all delegates success in their discussions over the coming days.

ENDS

Issued by: Michelle Hoctor, 087 8563070

Veronica Scanlan, 087 6430622