23/07/2024
PRESS RELEASE
MD Safety Commission: The driver satisfaction questionnaire is already helping to improve the Czech railway
July 23, 2024
At the next regular meeting of the Railway Safety Commission convened by the Minister of Transport, Martin Kupka, concrete examples of work improvement and increased safety resulting from the use of the driver satisfaction questionnaire from 2022 were presented. device. In connection with the further improvement of the safety of the Czech railways, it should also be mentioned that on August 1, 2024, carriers will begin to comply with the safety measure of the DÚ, which requires trained train drivers on equipped locomotives and tracks to drive under the activated European ETCS safety device.
During the meeting, we discussed the ongoing preparation for the exclusive operation of ETCS in January 2025, which is a basic measure to increase safety, evaluated the development of individual types of extraordinary events in the first half of the year, and also evaluated the use of the questionnaire in which the train drivers gave us important feedback about what, according to them, needs to be improved on the railway. I am glad that specific activities are underway, such as the simplification and transparency of the regulations of the Railway Administration, or for example some of the mentioned hostels have been repaired ," says Transport Minister Martin Kupka.
A questionnaire survey among train drivers took place in the summer of 2022. Almost 2,500 train drivers took part in the survey and it revealed 5 areas that train drivers consider important from the point of view of railway traffic safety. Both the Railway Administration and carriers were informed about the results of the questionnaire. After two years, we asked them for a short evaluation of how the individual areas are being solved.
These include the following areas:
clarity of operating regulations
The evaluation after two years showed that the simplification and clarification of the regulations of the Railway Administration is underway. Communication between the Railway Administration and carriers has also improved when discussing changes to regulations, for example within the working group for regulation D1.
unexpected minor breakdowns on the vehicle
A number of carriers try to prevent breakdowns on vehicles, on the one hand, by their regular maintenance, where a number of carriers are also directly certified as an entity responsible for maintenance (ECM). The ongoing renewal of the rolling stock thanks to the purchase of new locomotives also plays its role in improving the situation.
As part of the streamlining of maintenance and troubleshooting procedures, carriers are also introducing early remote diagnostics to prevent vehicle breakdowns. As part of the digitization of processes, an application is being developed for recording and recording repairs on vehicles, and at the same time, they are developing diagnostic systems on vehicles and sharing data from these systems. The vehicle monitoring project and the subsequent analytical part, which should lead to the prediction of the most frequent defects, are also being developed simultaneously. Other vehicles with remote diagnostics of measured vehicle parameters are gradually being put into operation. All this makes it possible to react quickly to non-standard conditions and prevent malfunctions.
outages and infrastructure failures
The organization of exclusions has improved both in terms of communication and their preparation, as well as the technologies used. In the case of more demanding closures, the railway administration processes track throughput studies, for long-term closures it is staged in an effort to limit carriers to the smallest possible extent. An example can be the long-term closure of Drahotuše - Lipník nad Bečvou, where scheduled trains are able to run thanks to the significant support of CDP Přerov dispatchers.
The Railway Administration has also limited the use of so-called hooks during traction line shutdowns, and the use of the ETCS Stop system is also being prepared to better secure the running of trains on sections undergoing modernization.
background for relaxation
The questionnaire revealed specific locations that the train drivers considered unsatisfactory. Individual carriers were immediately introduced to them. Gradually, a number of modifications took place, either through the revitalization of buildings (painting, replacement of furniture), their overall reconstruction or moving to a more modern building. E.g. ČD alone spend tens of millions of CZK annually on this area of improving facilities for employees (e.g. Znojmo, Bohumín, Praha Libeň or Vršovice, Blatno, Česká Třebová, Olomouc, Šumperk or Mlada Boleslav, Pilsen and Brno).
In the case of the amendment to Decree 16/2012, on the acquisition of professional competence of people driving railway vehicles and people carrying out revisions, inspections and tests of designated technical equipment at the carrier, which came into effect on July 1, 2024, the safety recommendation of the Railway Inspection contained in the Final Report was fulfilled about the results of the investigation of one of the extraordinary events. It aims to clarify the definition of the minimum length of the practical part of the training in the form of driving training for train drivers in hours, instead of the previously stated length of training in weeks.
The next step to increase safety will be the fulfillment of the Railway Authority's safety measure requiring trained train drivers on equipped locomotives and tracks to drive under the activated European ETCS safety device. We will comment on this next milestone in the gradual introduction of the exclusive operation of the European ETCS safety device at a press conference on August 5, 2024. We will communicate the details in advance.
M.Sc. Francis Jemelka
Department of Communication
www.mdcr.cz
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