TRAINing S.r.l., Venice, Italy
Railway Training Centre recognised by the Italian NSA
Contact: info@trainingsrl.it
www.trainingsrl.it
Abstract
With No. 2012/4 ANSF [1] Decree coming into effect, as referred to in No. 2012/1 ANSF Directive, all Italian Railway Undertakings (RUs) and Infrastructure Managers (IMs) must rearrange the contents of the pre-existing set of rules within their own Safety Management Systems (SMS). To do so, in compliance with the “Reference System” the various components will merge into a single “Rule Book Manual”(RBM) used by the staff undertaking safety-critical tasks (train drivers, train checkers, train conductors, rolling stock inspectors, etc.).
The RBM Project originated from the idea of providing Railway Undertakings and Infrastructure Managers with an innovative, IT based and web oriented document management system targeting all railway safety-critical tasks and operational contexts. The RBMs generated by the system are designed to be viewed on either a personal computer or mobile device and provide access to content that is relevant to railway staff competence. All materials can be constituted into a single digital document in which a dynamic set of handbooks are brought together.
A differentiated approach – on the basis of principles, notions and procedures in ordinary or back-up operating conditions – makes also the organisation of teaching and staff training activities easier and increases learning efficiency and effectiveness.
Introduction
IMs and RUs must ensure that all requirements concerning rules and procedures as well as documentation are met by the establishment of the appropriate processes. The set up of these processes is a relevant part of RU’s and IM’s Safety Management System (SMS) as required by Directive 2004/49/EC. In Italy, the SMS itself is assessed by the relevant National Safety Authority (NSA) before granting safety certificate/authorisation.
With the enactment of No. 2012/4 ANSF Decree, whose annexes A, B and C respectively set:
A – The assignment of railway safety tasks to railway operators
B – The new Railway Regulation “Regolamento Circolazione Ferroviaria” (RCF)
C – The standards for the qualification of railway staff undertaking safety-critical tasks
and of No. 2012/1 ANSF Directive, laying down the “Guidelines for the performance of activities by railway operators following the reorganization of the railway regulatory framework”, the Italian National Railway Safety Authority ANSF, according to 2007/162 Legislative Decree implementing the 2004/49/EC and 2004/51/EC Directives related to the safety and development of the Community’s railways, ordered the “regulatory framework’s reorganization”.
The “reorganization”, necessary to align the regulations that were previously in force to the Legislative Decree 162/2007, aims to:
- rationalise the railway regulatory architecture (regulations, rules, standards, instructions, provisions, etc.), by clarifying the hierarchy of rule sources and by distinguishing the principles from notions and procedures;
- clarify the roles of all parties and their responsibility in the management of operating rules, by eliminating overlapping functions, reducing conflicts of interest and moving away from the vertically integrated organisation of the former Italian State Railway “Ferrovie dello Stato” that incorporated the functions of the National Safety Authority (NSA), the Infrastructure Manager (IM) and the Railway Undertaking (RU) in one body;
- overcome the stratification of rules, that have been the subject of several amendments and integrations over time, due to the upcoming of new technologies and new legislation (e.g. European railway legislation).
To that extent, the new Italian National Railway Regulation (Regolamento Circolazione Ferroviaria, RCF), issued by ANSF in 2012, ratifies the highest principles and delegates to railway operators the management of the operating rules, starting from the “Reference System”. All the contents must be adopted in compliance with the standards set by No. 402/2013 CE Regulation on the common safety method on risk evaluation and assessment.
ANSF, for the activities resulting from the reorganization of the regulatory framework:
- has provided, before the entry in force of No. 4/2012 ANSF Decree, “comparative tables” to highlight discrepancies and inconsistencies between previous rules and the new National Railway Regulation, assigning the task of managing the modifications to the IM and/or to the RUs;
- has assigned the management of interface procedures (included the signalling handbook) to the IM;
- since January 1st 2013 it has implemented a monitoring process to verify progress and methods of the adoption of the principles contained in the new National Railway Regulations by rail operators, within their safety management systems.
Consequently, the regulatory framework reorganization, according to No. 4/2012 ANSF Decree, represents a unique opportunity for IMs and RUs to reach another very important goal: the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness in the rail system.
- the complete override of all redundancies that were contained in the old rule books;
- the possibility of customising the new RBMs for each role, operating context and train protection / train control system deployed by IMs and RUs;
- the rigorous distinction between “operating rules/procedures” and “basics/notions”, and the additional distinction between railway operation in normal and back-up conditions (faults, emergencies, abnormal situations, etc.);
- the adoption of the most advanced web-based, IT technology that ensures both the access to documentation, designed to be viewed on either a personal computer or mobile device, and the smooth management of updates that will be necessary in case of rules amendments, modification of the competences attributed to a given role and integration of the operating contexts. This means that railway staff will be able to refer to a single RBM for content relevant to their own role, using a smartphone, tablet or pc.
TRAINing has then developed one single “database”, which collects all the provisions derived from the regulations applicable before the entry into force of No. 2012/4 ANSF Decree. The provisions were updated according to the new National Railway Regulation (RCF), interface procedures of the IM, regulations of RUs, organizational/technological developments, etc.
The web-based software extrapolates then all the rules and notions from the database according to the roles, operating contexts and train protection / train control systems selected by the user. The software generates the RBMs in .pdf format, compiling them with Latex Technology that ensures a very high typographical quality.
Description
In order to build the database, railway staff roles, operating contexts and train protection / train control systems deployed by IMs and RUs have been identified.
For the roles, the following safety-critical tasks have been taken into account, in compliance with the annex C of No. 2012/4 ANSF Decree:
- FT-A : coupling/uncoupling of vehicle and shunting;
- FT-B : preparation of train documents;
- AT: train conducting;
- VE: rolling stock inspection;
- CT: train driving (divided in harmonised complementary train driving certificates category A and B).
For the operating contexts, that each IM and RU can define according to its own safety management system, the chosen criteria are:
1) the type of the commercial service:
- Passengers
- Freight
- Dangerous goods
- Intermodal
2) the type of train protection / train control system:
- SCMT (Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno, Italian train control system on main lines),
- SSC (Sistema Supporto Condotta, Italian train control system on secundary lines),
- ETCS L2 (European Train Control System Level 2) on high speed lines)
The Reference System indicated by ANSF has been then analysed and classified according to the following criteria:
- “Notions”: definitions, technology descriptions, standards, etc. These contents, integrated by explanations and insights when necessary, can be particularly helpful during teaching and training of railway staff undertaking safety-critical tasks. They are indicated with the acronym NET (Nozioni Esercizio Treni);
- “Rules”: “who does what and how”, during each operating procedure. They are indicated with the acronym RET (Regole Esercizio Treni);
- “Organization”: provisions derived by the monopolistic organisation of the former Italian State Railways, to be eliminated or substituted with IM and/or RU internal procedures;
- “Obsolete”: provisions to be deleted because they have been overcome by technological and organizational progress.
Every single notion and rule has been then associated to the roles, the specific operating contexts and the train protection / train control systems indentified.
The content of the database has been finally updated according to:
- the new principles of the new National Railway Regulation RCT issued by ANSF which are within the scope of RUs and the IM, as indicated in the comparative tables;
- the provisions and operating requirements issued by the IM (interface procedures) and previously by the former FS, following the entry into force of ANSF No. 4/2012 Decree;
- the provisions and operating requirements issued by the RU, containing the specific procedures written in compliance with the new regulatory framework and applicable to its own railway staff and railway operations.
Additional changes were made in order to improve the editorial layout (introduction of new figures, homogenization of acronyms, etc.).
The web-based software extracts the information according to the selected criteria mentioned above and generates the RBMs for every single RU and IM. Every authorised user that accesses the web-based platform can consult the information stored in the Database (current and historical) and can generate the RBMs customised for their respective RU or IM, as the software:
The sofware recognises the profile of the RU/IM on the level of:
- operational contexts;
- provisions and operating requirements issued by the RU/IM,
and generates the RBMs to be used by railway staff, according to their role.
Every RBM is divided into two parts:
- “Notions” (Nozioni Esercizio Treni, NET): basics/notions;
- “Rules” (Regole Esercizio Treni, RET): operating rules/procedures and direct instructions for railway staff.
The NET are structured in sections with a thematic sequence coherent to the one used in the RCF and contain the following paragraphs:
- GEN Generality
- ASE Safety-critical tasks
- IFN Infrastructure
- SEG Signalling system
- VEI Railway vehicles
- CMT Train protection / train control systems
- MAN Shunting operations
- CIR Train movement
- DOC Train documents
- CFT Train preparation
- PRF Brake test
- STA Securing vehicles
- VTV Technical inspection of vehicles
- MPE Dangerous goods
- DEG Operations in back-up conditions
Section Generality explains the evolution of the regulatory framework and the use of the RBMs by the relevant railway staff.
Section Safety-Critical Tasks lists the competences that railway staff must acquire and maintain in order to perform their tasks safely.
Section Infrastructure describes the lines and the relevant line-side equipment.
Section Signalling System explains the Principles of Railway Signalling and refer to the relevant Railway Signalling Handbook published by the IM.
Section Railway Vehicles describes systems, subsystems and components of railway vehicles.
Section Train Protection / Train Control Systems describes the different types of train protection / train control systems installed on the Italian railway network.
Section Shunting describes shunting operations in stations.
Section Train Movement describes describe train operations in normal situations for the routes to be worked over and the rolling stock used on those routes.
Section Train Documents explains the different types of train documents that the RUs utilise. The RU must supply the Train Drivers with all the necessary information and documentation required to carry out their (careful of being gender specific) duties, as well as the safety-related communications between train crew, other railway undertaking staff and staff authorising train movements.
Section Train Preparation describes the task of preparing trains.
Section Brake Test adopts the subjects contained in the previous instructions concerning the activity of the continuous automatic braking systems.
Section Securing Vehicles includes the procedure to secure trains and vehicles.
Section Technical Inspection of Vehicles concerns the principles associated with that activity.
Section Dangerous Goods, describes the regulations applicable to the transport of dangerous goods.
Section Degraded, Emergency Working describe train operations in degraded and emergency situations for the routes to be worked over and the rolling stock used on those routes.
The RET are structured in sections that correspond to the logical sequence of railway operations:
- PER Railway Staff Undertaking SafetyCritical Tasks
- LOC Traction Unit Preparation
- MAN Shunting
- FOR Train Formation
- VER Technical Inspection of Vehicles
- PRF Brake Test
- CAT Train Driving
- STA Securing vehicles
To make the RBMs more user friendly for Railway Staff; both parts (NET and RET) have a three letter code (as outlined above), this guides the user through the various sections and sub-sections in a logical numbered sequence which includes any revisions.
The process for updating the Driver’s Rule Book includes the following steps:
- the IM (or the unit within the RU responsible for the preparation of the operating rules) must provide the RU with the appropriate information in the IM’s operating language
- TRAINing draws up the updated document town behalf of the RUs
The IM must ensure that the content of the documentation provided to the railway undertaking(s) is complete and accurate. The RU must ensure that the content of the Rule Book manuals are complete and accurate.
Any update of the Rule Book manuals is highlighted by a symbol beside the new text and by date of entry into force.
Conclusion
With the adoption of the Rule Book Manuals, RUs and IMs can fulfil the reorganization of their regulations according to the criteria established by ANSF with the No. 2012/ Directive and No. 2012/4 ANSF Decree, with the support an innovative document management system that profiles the rules applicable to the roles and the specific operational contexts defined in their safety management systems.
The reorganisation of the regulatory framework has been carried out by TRAINing according to the method of the “reference system” foreseen in Regulation (EC) No 402/2013 on the adoption of a common safety method on risk evaluation and assessment.
The document management system developed by TRAINing provides a clear hierarchy of rules (principles, notions, rules and procedures in normal and back-up operating conditions), facilitates the organization of railway operations, enhances railway safety and makes the organisation of teaching and staff training activities easier and increases learning efficiency and effectiveness.
The association of each “Notion” and “Rule” to the roles, the operational contexts and the train protection / train control system in place overcomes.
The software and the web platform recognise the profile of the user and customise the Rule Book Manuals according to the roles, the operational contexts and the train protection / train control systems deployed by the operator.
When rules are updated (e.g. following the provisions set by the NSA, the provisions and operating requirements set by the IM and the provisions and operating requirements set by the RU), the Rule Book manuals will also be updated by TRAINing and users will be able to download a fresh manual from the document management system.
In addition to keep the Rule Book manuals updated, the TRAINing provides advice and support on a wide range of subjects concerning the practicalities, logistics and ‘people’ aspects of railway operations. TRAINing has also developed strong links with engineering disciplines both within the RUs, the IM, the Italian rail industry and in Europe.
By making digital Rule Book Manuals available TRAINing is responding to the modern ways of working on the operational railway as well as to the specific request to make Rule Book manuals available to use on mobile devices. The new Rule Book Manuals will save companies and staff time, make the content more accessible and reduce printing costs.
[1] Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza delle Ferrovie, Italian National Railway Safety Authority (NSA)
