Independent safety assessment

Like most industries, railway technologies have become increasingly complex over time. These developments have made railway safety assessments not only more necessary but also more challenging. While this is generally true for all subsystems, it is particularly the case for large railway infrastructure projects. The complexity of a complete railway system makes it difficult to accurately analyse and ensure system safety. The risks resulting from this increase in complexity can be mitigated by an Independent Safety Assessment (ISA).

During ISA, experts from a third-party such as TÜV SÜD form a judgement, separate and independent from any railway engineering design, development or operational personnel, that the safety requirements for the railway project are appropriate and adequate for the planned application and that all the systems and civil works assets as well as Operation and Maintenance (O&M) processes are compliant with those safety requirements.

The independent safety assessor’s role is to verify whether the relevant technical and operational risks have been reduced to an acceptable level. TÜV SÜD is an independent safety assessor that provides a comprehensive range of ISA rail services across the lifecycle.

Independent safety assessment helps suppliers, operators and system integrators prevent failures before they occur as well as ensuring their systems are compliant with the safety requirements and global railway standards. By providing you with independent safety assessment for your entire railway system, TÜV SÜD ensures that:

• Independent judgements and opinions are free from project constraints.
• A completely independent final judgment based on the acceptability of the safety justification (including deviations) given by the project in the Safety Case. This includes checking that the required constraints are captured in safety-related application conditions and are sufficient to control the risk.
• Reduction of project risk due to competent third-party opinion
• Safety arguments as well as the treatment of railway hazards and risk have been appropriately and effectively addressed.
• The project is delivered in compliance with international railway standards regarding safety targets.
• Operators are given increased confidence independent from potential supplier constraints.
• Technical and commercial stakeholders as well as regulatory bodies are assured that the project is being managed professionally and the safety targets are being met throughout the life cycle.

TÜV SÜD has global expertise in the rail industry. We leverage our deep industry knowledge and experience in rail safety assessments across multiple regions.

We provide a holistic service offering that covers the full spectrum of safety assessments, including subsystem, system, operational, and maintenance safety.

Many national and international bodies recognise us as a qualified, accredited international safety assessor.

We employ a proactive approach during assessments to identify potential issues early, saving you time and costs.

Our ISA services follow the typical phases and stages of the CENELEC EN50126 project lifecycle: 

• Concept and system definitions  
• Risk analysis
• Systems requirements and apportionment
• Preliminary and detailed design
• Manufacture and installation
• System validation and system acceptance (including handover & trial operations)
• Operations and Maintenance (O&M)

We provide independent assessments in compliance with global and regional railway safety standards: 

• CENELEC standards EN 5012x: CENELEC is the European Committee for electrotechnical standardisation. Standards 50126, 50128 and 50129 are generally accepted as the worldwide references for railway safety. They are the base reference for assessments performed by independent safety assessment bodies.
• Common Safety Method (CSM) (402/2013)
• Functional Safety IEC 61508
• National rules and regulations
• Railway standards directly relevant to electrical, mechanical systems and civils structures for specific products and railway sub-systems.

Our ISA service can cover the entire spectrum of a complete railway project, including but not limited to:

• Rolling stock
• Signalling 
• Infrastructure including track work, civil work
• Energy (including power distribution, overhead line electrification and third rail traction power)
• Telecomm
• Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
• MEP Mechanical, electrical and plumbing 
• Auxiliary subsystems (such as automated fare collection, platform screen doors, electronic access control)
• Fire protection, emergency and rescue concepts (including railway stations, tunnels and vehicles)
• Operation and maintenance
• Safety management

As an independent safety assessor, we will not be involved directly in the design, installation, and railway testing and commissioning. However, we will assess how well safety is implemented into the railway system throughout its lifecycle.