Railway traffic safety refers to the ability to control the loss of people or property within an acceptable level during railway transportation operations; that is, the possibility of loss is acceptable. If this possibility exceeds the acceptable range, it is considered unsafe.
Railway traffic safety exists alongside the production process. As long as transportation production activities exist, safety issues will arise. However, safety is also the prerequisite and guarantee of production; normal and orderly production is inseparable from the safe operation and management of the system. Therefore, in the railway transportation production process, the contradiction between safety and efficiency/effectiveness must be properly handled.
The key to railway traffic safety is management. The railway is like a large, interconnected machine; its transportation production process involves multiple stages of operation by various trades, including rolling stock, locomotives, engineers, electrical engineers, and rolling stock operators. The sheer number and variety of equipment, the extensive and continuous layout of equipment, and the independent and dispersed positions of operators mean that strict and effective management is essential for the coordinated cooperation of all trades and stages. Furthermore, although unsafe acts by people and unsafe conditions of equipment are often the direct causes of accidents, management, seemingly an indirect cause, is actually the fundamental and essential reason for accidents.
Trains moving at high speeds have very little time to correct or prevent accidents in the event of equipment malfunction or human error, and the available emergency response options are also very limited. Furthermore, the cost of railway lines, locomotives, and rolling stock is very high, and trains carry a large volume of passengers and freight. Accidents not only cause enormous property damage, casualties, and environmental destruction, but also disrupt the entire railway network due to transportation disruptions, impacting overall social production and transportation. More importantly, railways do not have ownership or control over their transported passengers and goods; they only provide necessary transportation services. Therefore, the losses from accidents involve a wide range of social factors, severely damaging the railway's image and even the government's credibility, and the severity of its social impact is immeasurable.
