Signals passed at danger: reducing railway risk

My guests in this issue are Trevor Parkin, Head of Operations Standards at East Midlands Railway, and Chris Harrison, Principal Risk Analyst at RSSB.  We talk about signals passed at danger (SPAD) and their potential consequences.  And about what, since the Ladbroke Grove accident in 1999, the rail industry has been doing to reduce the likelihood of SPADs.

Listen to the podcast.

Topics in this episode include:

• Trevor Parkin introductory biography [1:25]
• Chris Harrison introductory biography [2:10]
• SPADs in the 1990s and the changes made since (TP) [2:35]
• The Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) explained (TP) [3:53]
• Optimising the safety benefit of TPWS (CH) [6:07]
• The Red Aspect Approaches to Signals (RAATS) Tool (TP, CH) [7:59]
• Work to reduce SPAD numbers and the SPAD Strategy (TP) [12:32]
• The SPAD Risk Subgroup, its aims (TP, CH) [14:50]
• Industry challenges for the RAATS Tool (CH) [18:05]
• Getting train operators to use RAATS [22:03]

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• SPAD Good Practice Guide
• SPAD Risk Subgroup
• Red Aspect Approaches to Signals (RAATS).

Other related resources include:

• SPAD Risk Ranking Tool
• Signals passed at danger – A summary of the rail industry's approach to risk reduction.

To contact us, or to give us any feedback about this podcast, please email podcasts@rssb.co.uk.  For enquiries about any of our resources or services please contact our enquiry desk through our customer service portal.