NTL Record

Title A Practical Risk Assessment Methodology for Safety-Critical Train Control Systems
Record ID 49862
Personal Name
Creator
Mokkapati, Chinnarao; Tse, Terry; Rao, Alan
Source 125p. in various pagings
Corporate Creator John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
Publisher United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
Publication Date 20090701
Language English
Abstract This project proposes a Practical Risk Assessment Methodology (PRAM) for analyzing railroad accident data and assessing the risk and benefit of safety-critical train control systems. This report documents in simple steps the algorithms and data inputs that are required to calculate the collective risks associated with a proposed system (such as a positive train control system). These risks are in turn compared with a reference safety target (such as the risk associated with the existing system or method of operation that the proposed system is intended to replace) to arrive at the quantitative hazard rates that proposed system must be designed not to exceed. These hazard rates, called tolerable hazard rates, form a key part of the safety requirements specification for the proposed system. A software tool has been developed for use by risk analysts safety engineers to implement the steps of PRAM in an iterative manner.
Rosap ID dot:11279
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/11279
TRT Terms Algorithms; Automatic train control; Benefits; Human factors; Engineering; Railroad crashes; Railroad safety; Risk assessment
General Subjects Railroad safety; Risk assessment; Automatic train control; Methodology
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Report Number DOT/FRA/ORD-09/15; DOT/FRA/RDV-09-01
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/49000/49800/49862/ord0915.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository