As Seetha Ram and his research associate Nikhil Bugalia explain, the first assumption should always be that a rail system can never be safe enough. 

Both of them recently contributed to the redaction of a paper called ‘Handbook on high-speed rail and quality of life’. “A railway organisation’s pursuit of safety should never stop,” the handbook reads. “For complex socio-technical systems such as railways, safety should be achieved through harmonised coordination between robust technology and qualified personnel.”

In this sense, Seetha Ram says, high-speed trains could be compared to computer systems, which are constantly updated based on bugs and other malfunctions. “But because the [number of] fatal accidents which resulted in a derailment or stopping of the train are [so rare] there are many other layers of avoidable or avoided and less tragic accidents which actually offer lessons and that is how the software gets updated.”

While investigations in Italy were recently brought to a halt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, early conclusions on the Frecciarossa accident seem to point that ‘human error’ (allegedly some technicians’ wrong display of tracks) could have caused the derailment. 

“The accident in Italy is being analysed from the perspective of human-errors at the front of maintenance operators,” says Bugalia, who recently completed a PhD dissertation on safety management practices among Japan’s high-speed rail (HSR) operators. “However, since the accidents in HSR systems are infrequent, they must be investigated thoroughly and comprehensively to get the most learning from a single unfortunate event. Thorough investigations may be expensive and time-consuming but these accidents are rare opportunities to learn, so the use of more resources could be warranted.” 

A key takeaway from the accident is that the role of human intervention and the extent to which it should be held accountable when it comes to safety. 

Human error may have been identified as the reason behind the accident in northern Italy, yet as Bugalia maintains, “the state-of-the-art safety approaches all consider human error not as the ultimate cause of the accident, but a symptom of underlying factors that need to be addressed”. These can include “dysfunctional interaction” between operator and technology, as well as “organisational processes, practices and culture that may negatively influence human behaviour and jeopardise safety”.

While human operators still play a substantial role in handling traditional systems, their employment in HSR systems is gradually decreasing. “As the speed of the trains has increased, a necessity for the enhanced control is thought necessary for which human operators may face certain limitations,” Bugalia continues. “Hence, all HSR systems have relied on advanced and more sophisticated technical systems to support the role of human operators such that safety can be achieved even at higher speeds.”

This growing reliance on technology to provide safety is resulting in what Bugalia describes as the “irony of automation”. “Because of the changing role of human operators, the onus of safety has shifted up the hierarchy and now lies at the organisations (read top-managers) to design and operate systems that can operate safely,” he explains. 

Yet as Seetha Ram says, this doesn’t necessarily result in safer services: “Less of the human role doesn't mean [the system is] infallible. It means you have to be even more careful.”

Although not decisive in Frecciarossa’s derailment, external factors like adverse weather and natural disasters are an increasingly tougher challenge for HSR operators as climate change tightens its grip over the world.

A case in point, earlier in March a TGV train derailed in southern France as a result of a landslide, leaving over 20 injured. The latest of an ever-increasing list, France’s accident is symptomatic of networks’ constant exposure to unpredictable natural events and a higher degree of risk.

Some networks are already investing heavily in the development of resilience and prevention measures. A prime example is the upcoming Rail Baltica line, which will connect Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. With operations set to start in 2026, engineers working on its development recently published a study assessing the impacts of expected climate variations on the upcoming line.

Meanwhile, Bugalia points out that many existing networks have already adapted to cope with risks. Japan has long been a pioneer in this field, finding itself located in a rather unwelcoming land where earthquakes are frequent and difficult to tackle. 

Here, measures to prevent accidents include emergency braking systems and trackside signals that can detect obstruction. “Although such external factors pose [a] high risk, the HSR systems have been strengthened to mitigate the risks to certain extents,” says Bugalia. “Nevertheless, with increasing rainfalls, typhoons, and erratic weather patterns the HSR systems will have to be further developed.” 

Overall, much of this resilience is owed to technology, which allows operators to promptly integrate updates within a train’s computer model. “Today, we're able to simulate a near real-world situation in a computer model,” says Seetha Ram. “And the simulation is not only just for designing but also for training the drivers. So high-speed rail drivers are trained on a simulator before they actually use the real vehicle,” he continues, adding that this training is now more sophisticated and potentially effective. 

The success of high-speed rail networks is spurring new projects around the world, with countries across America, Europe and Asia all putting forward their own ambitious plans.

Looking back at the good and bad examples set by existing networks, a lot can be learned as far as construction and operation are concerned. On the building front, encouraging efforts are being made in Europe where authorities have been pushing forward the concept of interoperability, which allows for cost reduction, increased safety and uninterrupted movement of trains.

As for operations, Japan’s model can be an example to many. Here, the country’s world-famous high-speed trains are operated by different companies, all handling a portion of tracks. Equally, different companies are responsible only for training their drivers and guaranteeing safety on their part of the line.

“Those organisational arrangements are very important,” concludes Seetha Ram. “They go beyond technology and this is where the soft side of the human aspect comes. It's one thing to have the rules and the other thing is to share the responsibility and [share lessons].”

Seetha Ram says that his views do not represent the policies of ADB or its member countries.

Having halted services on its high-speed line TGV Inoui earlier in April, French railway operator Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) found itself with an excess of 3,000 food products that were meant to be distributed on its trains.

The company then decided to donate these products to charity Samu Social de Paris, which works to provide shelter and aid to homeless people in Paris. Donations included salads, sandwiches, hot dishes or desserts.

Samu Social de Paris also received some 3,150 duvets previously destined for SNCF’s night trains. The blankets are currently being used at social centres that welcome vulnerable people.

Ahead of the Easter break, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) launched a rescue package for charities across Germany.

As part of the initiative, the operator donated hygiene items including sanitisers and protective equipment to both staff and those being helped by the charity. In addition, the company and its namesake foundation delivered hundreds of meals across Berlin on Good Friday and some 10,000 chocolate rabbits in celebration of Easter.

The DB Foundation also released an additional aid package allowing station missions access to up to €100,000 to purchase anything from food to clothes, masks and more.

At the beginning of April, Indian Railways announced plans to convert some 20,000 train carriages into isolation wards for Covid-19 patients. The measure aims to provide much-needed relief to the country’s healthcare system which had been struggling with capacity long before the pandemic.

Capable of accommodating 16 passengers each, the carriages also have space for a doctor and nurse’s station, beds and storage of medical supplies. Once on the tracks, the trains can travel wherever needed across more than 7,300 stations across the network.

The move is not unusual for Indian Railways, which already operates five non-train-based hospitals in the country and has been running the so-called Lifeline Express mobile hospital since 1991.

The uneven distribution of Covid-19 cases in both Spain and France has led to overcrowding in some hospitals and left others less busy. To address this issue, local operators decided to retrofit some trains to transport patients from congested areas to less-affected regions.

Spain’s Renfe, for example, partnered with manufacturer Talgo to retrofit three high-speed trains as emergency transport for positive cases.

As for France, in late March the world’s first ‘medicalised TGV’ left Paris for Strasbourg while carrying 20 patients with coronavirus. According to the Telegraph, onboard staff for each carriage included an anaesthetist-reanimator, an intern, a nurse anaesthetist and three nurses. The train’s dining carriage was repurposed as a medical operations centre.

British rail operators recently partnered with charity Women’s Aid to allow victims of domestic abuse to travel for free during the lockdown. The initiative came after Women’s Aid figures showed a 41% increase in users of its online live chat service in the first week of lockdown in the UK.

To help sufferers escape from domestic abusers, industry body the Rail Delivery Group announced victims can apply to get a free ticket to reach a safe destination.

The ‘Rail to refuge’ scheme was already in place on lines operated by Southeastern and Great Western Railway before the outbreak and has now been extended to other members of the RDG.

Both Siemens Mobility and its parent company Siemens AG have made $150,000 donations to food banks across ten cities in the US, including New York, Sacramento and Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the managing board of Siemens AG recently set up a Covid-19 aid fund aimed at supporting individuals, relief organisations and medical facilities in the fight against the outbreak.

Siemens CEO and president Joe Kaeser kick-started the fund with a €1m donation and encouraged employees around the world to contribute.

With UK schools shutting down at the end of March, infrastructure manager Network Rail put together a pack of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning resources and activities for children staying at home.

The initiative was initially intended for Network Rail employees but was later extended to families in a bid to encourage more young people to pursue a career using STEM subjects.

Network Rail has also made seven of its distribution centres available to the government’s Transport Support Unit and provided engineers to help fit out the new Nightingale hospital in Manchester. The company’s employees in the Northeast of England have also been donating spare personal protective equipment (PPE) to the local hospital.

Rail workers have been proving crucial in helping tackle the pandemic, but some of them have gone the extra mile. Some 200 retired signallers returned to work as volunteers as Network Rail struggled with staff shortages as a result of the crisis.

French manufacturer Alstom is currently producing visors for face shields and ventilator valves. The majority of the production is taking place at Alstom’s Barcelona 3D printing hub, where engineers are also working to develop new solutions to protect essential workers. These include personal protectors for door handles and manufacturing masks made of antibacterial materials.

Alstom’s Chinese team has also helped distribute masks to drivers and operators, while employees in the United Arab Emirates raised funds to provide grocery vouchers and multivitamins to struggling families.

Rail companies around the world have been expressing solidarity and gratitude towards essential workers with a host of initiatives that included media campaigns, horn blasts and banners.

For example, in mid-April Amtrak, the New York Metropolitan Authority and other US rail stakeholders launched a coordinated effort to simultaneously sound vehicle horns in support of frontline workers.

In the UK, operator Govia Thameslink Railway recently rebranded three trains to show gratitude and solidarity towards medical workers.

Finally, Northern Ireland public transport operator Translink launched a ‘Chase the Rainbow’ campaign as part of which it transformed two trains into ‘trainbows’ sending messages of hope during the crisis.