We are pleased to announce that Mr Ali Chegini, Director of System Safety and Health at RSSB, has been appointed Chair of the UIC Safety Platform for a two-year mandate from January 2021.

Mr Chegini currently leads RSSB’s team of 55 specialists in railway system safety, risk insights, human factors, health and wellbeing. He chairs the RSSB Risk Management Capability Group and he is one of RSSB’s main points of contact for industry collaboration with the chief inspectors from ORR and RAIB. Before joining RSSB, he was Systems Assurance Manager for the consortium on lines 1 and 2 of the Riyadh metro, where he managed a team of RAMS experts on two automated, driverless metro lines. During his time in the Middle East, Mr Chegini also worked as the railway safety regulator at Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), authorising owners’ and railway undertakings’ schemes as well as monitoring and regulating the safety duties of safety assessors, suppliers and engineers during the construction, operation and maintenance of light and heavy rail systems.

At the RTA, he introduced new regulations for tramways and led Dubai’s input on developing national railway safety regulations. He worked closely with the UAE Federal Transport Authority to help them implement the UAE’s ambitious railway expansion strategy, and also led official safety and operational review panels.

Mr Chegini’s commitment and many years of experience in railway performance and safety will undoubtably help the UIC Safety Platform tackle the challenges inherent in the railways, especially with regard to digitalisation, integration of human and organisational factors, and the need for a systemic approach.