ABSTRACT
Railways dominated the land transportation sector for more than 100 years since its origin in 1825, and continue to play an important role in modern urban and intercity transportation sectors. At present the railway sector has entered a new era characterized by the development of urban rail transits and high-speed railways. Because of the high volume and speed of modern railways, their safety issues demand serious public attention. Railway safety is a complicated subject because of many factors that must be considered to prevent accidents and mitigate the risks of human casualties and property losses. Building an effective safety framework requires balancing between various compromising factors including capacity loss and output. This chapter introduces the role of railways as a mode of transportation in Asia, describes the railway safety issues and types of accidents, and reports some typical railway accidents in several countries. Based on facts, it also illustrates many railway accidents with details on some of the important ones. The chapter reviews some studies on railway accidents, which can be helpful to understand the formation and management of railway accidents. It also considers a framework on the railway safety management system based on technological, management and other factors, and outlines how the safety management system of the China Railway Corporation is organized. Finally, the chapter summarizes some key points in improving safety management and their applications in Asian railways.
