On 4 November 2026, UIC Safety Platform members from 26 organisations came together for the annual UIC Safety Platform Plenary Session held online and in person at the UIC Headquarters to discuss rail safety. It followed the Safety Steering Committee meeting and a webinar on rail suicide prevention held the day before.
Dr Ann Mills (Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB)), Vice-Chair of the UIC Safety Platform, opened the meeting by conveying the apologies of the Chair, David Gomez-Rey, who was unable to attend.
Dr Mills, who is also Chair of the Trespass and Suicide Prevention Network (TreSP-Network) gave a debrief on the Webinar on Rail Suicide Prevention held on 3 November 2026. She highlighted that restricting access (through fencing, platform screen doors, CCTV, hotspot management) effectively saves lives, aligning with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations. Additionally, training staff and passengers can empower individuals to interrupt brief suicidal crises. More than 180 people from 41 countries registered to attend the webinar (see the separate e-news on this event). The presentations given at the event will be shared with participants and the Safety Platform members. For more information, visit www.trespad.org.
One of the main objectives of the UIC Safety Platform is to conduct a joint review of the progress made by its eight permanent working groups.
- Human and Organisational Factors Working Group (HOFWG)
On behalf of Nora Balfe (Irish Rail (IE)) and Margot van Vliet-Metkemeijer (Prorail), Virginie Papillault (UIC) presented an update on Human and Organisational Factors (HOF) activities, including the upcoming publication of the signal passed at danger (SPAD) control measures report and the completion of the HOF automation hazard checklist.
A dedicated core subgroup is currently drafting an International Railway Solution (IRS) with the aim of integrating HOF considerations throughout all 12 lifecycle phases defined in EN 50126.
UIC is also continuing its work on the HOF impacts of the European Train Control System (ETCS), building on a second workshop held this year at UIC. Several change requests were identified during the workshop and are expected to be submitted to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).
In parallel, UIC is working to update its formal cooperation agreement with ERA to enable direct submission of ETCS Change Requests (CRs) by UIC.
- Occupational Health and Safety Group (OHSG)
Hugues Biseuil (National French Railways (SNCF)), the new OHSG Chair, introduced the Home Safety Hub, a digital toolbox designed to support safety measures for staff working near the track. The group is continuing the development of a 2027 IRS proposal on contractor safety while also addressing several emerging risks, including public aggression towards railway staff, the impact of suicide and trespass incidents on railway workers, and activities carried out in “red zones” (red zone working).
Bart Hoogcarspel (Prorail) drew attention to the operational risks associated with the terminology used for “red zone” work, particularly in communications between track teams and rail traffic controllers.
Safety Performance Group (SPG)
Mauro Mendetta (Trenitalia), the new SPG Chair and Iryna Polzikova, presented the group’s activities and work programme, together with the annual UIC Safety Report. The data showed a 10% reduction in the total number of significant railway accidents in 2025 compared to 2024 across a consistent panel of 27 rail networks. This year’s Focus Study examined broken rails and track buckling, as well as the maintenance practices, inspection methods and preventive measures adopted by infrastructure managers (IM).
Safety Culture Peer Review Working Group
Bernard Penners (Infrabel), Chair of the Safety Culture Peer Review Working Group, provided an update on the 2026-2028 peer review timetable. He also emphasised that the Terms of Reference (ToRs) are currently being developed by UIC to clarify roles and responsibilities within the peer review framework.
He presented the next reviewers’ training session and informed members of the possible organisation of a webinar in the spring of 2027. Finally, he announced that the guidelines for reviewers and team leaders are close to completion.
Papillault and Adriano Scapati, Director of the UIC Rail System Department, highlighted the need to transition the Peer Review programme from a temporary three-year project into a permanent UIC core activity in order to meet the growing demand from members.
Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
On behalf of Gemma Lavery (RSSB), the new GLCN Chair, and Gerard Pool (ProRail), Vice Chair, Isabelle Fonverne (UIC) summarised their last meeting held on 28-29 October 2026, their activities, and work programme, including the revision of a guide for level crossing risk assessment methods and the future publication of IRS 70760 on level crossings safety in early 2027. Isabelle also shared the final results of the AI4SAFEBEHAVE project shared at the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) Conference in June 2026 and at the 2026 International Railway Safety Conference (IRSC2026) Conference in Lisbon in October 2026.
Trespass and Suicide Prevention Network (TreSP-Network)
Chaired by Dr Mills with Nils La Cour (Danish State Railways (DSB)), as Vice Chair, this working group reported on trespass and suicide prevention activities. Its international and pro-active members include railway experts, academics, psychologists, and psychiatrists.
Both groups help organise the joint ILCAD/Trespass Awareness Day (TRESPAD) 2027 international conferences to launch the 19th edition of the ILCAD campaign and the 6th edition of TRESPAD, hosted by Infraestruturas de Portugal (2-4 June 2027)
System Safety Management Group (SSMG)
This group is chaired by Guillaume Foeillet (SNCF), with François Binet (SNCF) as the Vice Chair. The UIC and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) System Safety Management Group (SSMG) conduct monthly reviews of EU railway safety regulations, develop sector positions on the Common Safety Methods on Assessment of Safety Level & Safety Performance (CSM ASLP), and Common Occurrence Reporting (COR), including assessing railway undertaking IT compliance costs for interfacing with the ERA information system.
The group is also preparing sector mirror groups to support ERA’s 2027 CSM revision programme through seven planned working parties. Likewise, the working group, in cooperation with European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), will launch a task force on broken rails in response to recent accidents in Europe.
International Railway Safety Network (IRSN)
This working group, also chaired by Foeillet, facilitates confidential International Safety Exchanges (ISE). During their last meeting held on 30 October at RSSB in London, representatives from various companies in Europe, Japan and North America shared their organisations’ safety responsibilities and priorities.
During the Safety Platform plenary meeting, participating organisations also gave the following presentations on topics relating to railway safety:
- Ippei Goto (East Japan Railway Company (JR East)): “Beyond safety outcomes: A proactive approach to future safety”explained that while accident rates have significantly decreased in the long run, they have recently started to stagnate which prompted the adoption of a proactive safety approach. Through its 3M (man, machine, media) framework, process monitoring cycle, and large-scale employee safety surveys, the company focuses on strengthening operational capabilities and identifying risks before incidents occur.
- Filippo Masella (Italian State Railways Group (FS Group)): “Turning the vision for safety into action” presented its Fare Sicurezza programme, which translates safety principles into action through four pillars: governance, innovation, culture, and engagement, across an international organisation of more than 100,000 employees and 40+ companies. Key initiatives include a group-wide safety dashboard, AI-supported incident analysis, near miss reporting tools, the promotion of “just culture” and Safety-II principles, and workforce engagement campaigns designed to strengthen safety maturity and contractor management.
- Carlos Garcia Seco, Gregorio Gamez Bartolome (Catalan Government Railways (FCG)): “Managing extreme weather events across the FGC network” presented a structured framework for managing extreme weather risks across its network, with dedicated procedures covering rain, wind, heat, snow, and wildfires. The approach combines forecasting, preventive actions, real-time operational controls, and post-event inspections to ensure safety while minimising service disruptions.
- Bart Hoogcarspel (on behalf of ProRail), “Calm safety management: Long-term data & bow-tie analysis” highlighted the importance of consistent long-term safety data, showing that short-term trends can be misleading when assessing risk and performance. He also advocated for the use of proactive bow-tie analysis to identify critical safety barriers in advance and support clearer risk management and communication.
Another key objective of the UIC Safety Platform is to monitor the progress of the specific projects being developed within the platform. The UIC team went over the portfolio of projects which include the continuation of ITSOL4SAFETY and MIND4CHANGE, the recent publication of New Methods for Safety Demonstrations (NMSD), and the upcoming publication of the final report of AI4SAFEBEHAVE.
Finally, Adriano Scapati concluded the meeting by presenting the UIC standardisation strategy, aligned with the migration plan for the UIC safety documentation.
The next meetings of the UIC Safety Platform will be held on 3 and 4 November 2027 at the UIC Headquarters in Paris.
