Introduction to the risk management in the maintenance of railway tracks

Abstract

Risk management is an essential tool for the implementation of safety policy within the framework of safety management systems deployed in all enterprises involved in the management of railway infrastructure and transport operations on the fundamental European Union rail network. The idea of risk management, however, is much younger than the railway system and therefore it is sometimes regarded as an independent supplement to the business of entities related to the railway.The aim of this article is to present how the processes of the railway track maintenance system can be supported by the language of methods of risk management, in order to be able to better integrate these processes with the safety management system of an infrastructure manager. This work also discusses the requirements for safety management systems and indicates further possible directions of research in the field of risk management methods which support processes of maintenance of railway tracks. Keywords: railway track, railway track maintenance system, method of risk management, safety management system