Wednesday 12 August 2009
Safety

UIC supports Australian and New Zealand Rail Safety Week (24 – 31 July)

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The UIC welcomes the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and all its partners amongst them the Rail Industry Standards and Safety Board (RISSB) initiative aimed at increasing community awareness about rail safety promoting safe behaviour of users.

The National Rail Safety Week (NRSW), established in 2006, is particularly targeting level crossings issue but will also lend itself to expansion into areas of rail safety, including trespassing, vandalism or security and safety passenger. In terms of activities, most of the States and parties involved will update their advertising campaigns and run various forms of rail safety advertisements in
the lead up to and during the National Rail Safety Week.

More information regarding the NRSW, along with educational material on risky behaviour at and around level crossings, is available at: http://www.ara.net.au/site/railsafetyweek.php.

“The UIC welcomes this initiative, as we have consistently voiced and demonstrated through the safety database and the coordination of the recent European Level Crossing Awareness Day project, the high level of risks that level crossing accidents represent for the rail community” stated Jean-Pierre
Loubinoux, Director General of UIC “. “The UIC congratulates ARA and RISSB for successfully bringing together a wide number of key stakeholders to showcase their rail safety efforts and effectively address this safety message: “All Level Crossing Collisions are Avoidable”. We now look forward to working closely
with our Australian and New Zealanders colleagues on the International event that is being prepared for next year”.

Indeed, following the great success of various national initiatives and notably the European Level Crossing Awareness Day* gathering more than 27 countries in Europe and beyond, the UIC expressed the need to ensure coherence and consistency by organising an International Level Crossing Awareness Day to take place next year in June and involving more than 40 countries worldwide

* The purpose of ELCAD was to link together a series of national/local events on 25 June 2009, constructed around a common theme and unique branding. The main purpose of such coordinated action was to focus on education and promote safe behaviour by all users at and around level crossings.

For more information please contact the UIC Brussels office: Daoud@uic.org

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