Defining States in Reliability and Safety Modelling

Abstract

In this paper, the author’s research work is focused on state defining method for modeling of complex transportation systems reliability and safety, especially the railway transportation system. The paper begins with an introduction related to a literature review on railway transportation system functionality, reliability and safety modeling. The set of states can be divided into two subsets: availability set and failure set of states. Defining states in terms of railway transportation system is a complex issue, therefore the state classification into availability an failure is not sufficient. In addition to the technical effects associated with incorrect operation of system components, traffic consequences (traffic disruptions) of events are important, especially in case of railway transportation system. The paper ends with conclusions of the analysis, dealing with applicability of potential models to solve problems for the real system and a summary with prospects for further research.