150 participants including 17 speakers from 10 different countries participated in the ILCAD 2015 International Conference on “How to improve safety at and around level crossings” hosted by TCDD on 3 June 2015 at Haydarpasa Station in Istanbul, Turkey.
During a press conference in front of Haydarpasa Station Mr Ismail H. Murtazaoglu, Deputy Director General of TCDD, and Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, UIC Director Fundamental Values Department were invited to briefly give their positions on level crossing safety on the occasion of ILCAD 2015. They officially opened the conference using a remote control to close a level crossing installed outside of the building. It was the occasion to invite all participants to join the conference inside the building.
The full-day conference was introduced by Mr Murtazaoglu and Mr Wisniewski who welcomed the 150 participants and 17 speakers.
The conference was composed of three sessions, the first one chaired by Mr Jerzy Wisniewski, UIC, the second one by Mrs Mumbi Kamuri, Rift Valley Railways (Kenya/Uganda), and the third one by Mr Ibrahim Halil Cevik, Director International Relations of TCDD.
TCDD showed a level crossing awareness video:
Jerzy Wisniewski showed the new ILCAD 2015 video targeting pedestrians misusing a level crossing: “Take your time, don’t risk your life!”
The conference programme included:
- Mr Jan Grippenkoven, researcher and specialist in human factors in the aerospace industry (DLR, Germany), gave a human centred perspective on level crossing accidents
- Mrs Virginie Taillandier, LC Programme Manager at SNCF, gave an overview of safety at LCs in France
- Mrs Mumbi Kamuri, Social Expert at the Rift Valley Railways, presented the railways in Kenya and Uganda
- Mr Nobuo Nishioka (Senior Manager at JR East) and Mr Katuzaka Matsumaru (Senior Manager at JR West) presented the situation in Japan
- Mrs İlksen Tavșanoǧlu, Safety Division Manager at the Turkish Railway Regulatory Authority (DGRR) gave an overview on LC legislation in Turkey
- Mr Dale Jones/OPTEX (Europe) Ltd and Mr Dave Farman/TEW UK presented “LIDAR” which is an obstacle detector to improve safety at level crossings
The second session chaired by Mrs Mumbi Kamuri, Rift Valley Railways was dedicated to “Education and awareness campaigns” and included the following speakers:
- Mr Ergun Yurtcu, Regional Director of Safety Management System at TCDD, spoke about the “Directorate of Safety Management System” at the General Directorate
- Mr Tamo Vahemets, CEO of Operation Lifesaver Estonia (OLE) and Chairman of the Safety Committee of the Supervisory Council of Estonian Railways (EVR) presented the Estonian network
- Mr Edgars Vilcans, PR Manager at Latvian railways (LDZ) gave an overview of the Latvian railway network:
- Mr Sandy Bell-Ashe level crossings safety campaigns manager at Network Rail, and Mr Robert Cann, Education Officer at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, UK presented a new approach to level crossing safety awareness in the UK
Session 3 on analysis, evaluation and risk assessment was chaired by
Mr Ibrahim Halil Cevik, TCDD Director of International Relations, and included the following speakers:
- Mr Tobias Schaller, Head of Section Scientific Bases, Ministry of Transport of the Swiss Confederation (FOT) presented the refurbishment and monitoring of Swiss level crossings
- Mr Jarmo Koistinen, Finnish Transport Agency (FTA) gave a safety evaluation of LCs in Finland from the users’ view
- Mr Selahattin Sivrikaya, Head of Permanent Way Department, Turkish State Railways – TCDD presented the “Measures to be taken at level crossings and related implementation in Turkey”
Finally, Mrs Isabelle Fonverne, UIC Safety Senior Advisor and ILCAD Coordinator, gave an overview on the UN-ECE Group of experts (GE1) on improving safety at level crossings created at the initiative of UIC and UNECE in Geneva – more information at http://www.unece.org/trans/roadsafe/eg_level_crossings_05.html and showed the film co-produced by UIC, UNECE and FOT on the occasion of ILCAD 2014 and to launch this Group of Experts to raise awareness among decision makers and the public of the risks at level crossings:
She also reported on the evolution of ILCAD over the last few years. She insisted on the fact that behind this international conference to officially launch the event, over 40 countries are participating and supporting this initiative with smaller or bigger campaigns that many of them are tweeting or posting messages, photos or reports on their activities on Facebook on the same day. There is a list of potential hosts for the four future events to launch ILCAD campaigns 2016-2019, so it is never too late to send an application for 2020!
The target audience in June 2016 will be decided in the ELCF and ILCAD Task Forces in autumn 2015 (date and location to be determined). Finally, on behalf of UIC, Isabelle Fonverne thanked all stakeholders, ILCAD partners, supporters, speakers and exhibitors present at the event and particularly members of TCDD management and staff for making this conference again a great success. More info at: www.ilcad.org
To conclude, participants were invited to visit the Marmaray Railway Tunnel linking the European and Asian sides of Istanbul under the Bosphorus strait.
