Director General for Railway Safety Policy Koo Bon-hwan at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Director General for Railway Safety Policy Koo stresses safety and security of railway at a recent interview.(Photos:MOLIT)

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) created the Railway Safety Policy Bureau, with three divisions designed to reinforce railway-related safety and specialize in R&D jobs in January. 

“We devote ourselves to ensuring safety management so that overseas markets can trust the safety of the Korean railway industry,” said Director General for Railway Safety Policy Koo Bon-hwan at the MOLIT. “Secondary and tertiary safety devices are employed to secure the safety of the Korean high-speed network to world-class standards, and the steps to innovate the safety of railway are designed to prevent the possible occurrence of accidents.” 

The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Director General Koo, in which he spoke of policies on railway safety and R&D jobs. 

Question: Will you tell our readers about the significance of the anniversary of Railway Day and the anniversary events?

Answer: Railway Day is designated to enhance the meaning of pivotal roles the railway plays as a national transportation network and give words of encouragement and consolation to the contributions by workers at the railway industry and related officials. Railway Day falls on Sept. 18 every year in celebration of the opening of Korea’s first railway section between Noryangjin, Seoul and Jaemulpo, Incheon on that day of 1899. This year observed the 116th Railway Day anniversary at the Railway Twin Tower in Daejeon on Sept. 18. 

Q: Will you introduce the current status of the newly introduced Railway Safety Policy Bureau?

A: The MOLIT inaugurated the Railway Safety Policy Bureau with three divisions designed to reinforce railway-related safety and specialize in R&D jobs in January. The Railway Safety Policy Bureau is charged with overall duties related to railway safety and R&D jobs. 

The new bureau is responsible for supervising and overseeing overall safety management of the railway operator and state affairs, such as control and security duties. Technical standards guidelines ascertain the safety of railway trains from the stage of production, and the safety of parts with glitches, and operating trains. Maintenance and repair of railway facilities are conducted, projects to improve dilapidated facilities are implemented, and screen doors and other facilities related to the safety of public lives are expanded. 

Q: Will you elaborate on major policies your bureau has implemented or will implement in 2015?

A:  We came up with steps to innovate the safety of the railway in July after inaugurating the Railway Safety Policy Bureau and reviewing the overall safety of railways in Korea. The top 30 core tasks have been explored in accordance with each of the top six strategies worked out.

The classification of large-scale railway accidents will be lowered from 10 deaths to five deaths, and the guidelines for imposing penalties and suspension orders reinforced to beef up responsibility of the railway operator. The penalty charges will likely go up from 100 million won to 3 billion won, and an official notice of the operator’s investments in safety will be introduced to increase transparency. 

Records on maintenance and the repair of railway trains will be managed from the stage of production until they’re scrapped, while expertise in maintenance and the repair of operating trains will be reinforced. Full-life cycle records on managing railway facilities will be built up, while the supervision of those will be strengthened. 

Railway security, which falls short when it is compared to policy consideration of railway trains and facilities, will be beefed up against terrorist attacks and arson. 

Spot security checks will be conducted at random, with a focus on major high-speed railways by minimizing inconveniences to people. The ministry is seeking to revise the Act on the Safety of Railways to translate into action the steps to innovate the safety of railways, and regulations on facilities, trains, security and other areas will revamped to establish safety management regimes. Additional tasks on the innovation of the safety of railway will be explored to be reflected in the 3rd master plan on railway safety, to be established at year-end. 

Q: Will you explain policies to ensure the safe operation of the railway network?

A: A full-life cycle management regime of railway trains from the stage of production until they’re scrapped will be introduced. A business specializing in maintenance of railway trains will be introduced to allow firms with sufficient facilities and manpower capabilities to ensure safety and expertise related to the maintenance of railway trains. 

A qualification for railway train maintenance service crews will be introduced to allow people with sufficient expertise in train maintenance to work in the business. The government will introduce a system to register a combined 22,878 railway trains, which have so far managed by each operator on their own, to ensure their systematic safety management. 

Like automobiles, a railway train inspection system will be introduced to prevent arbitrary structure changes and safety hazard factors. To this end, a total career management regime will be established to look at maintenance and accident records at a glance, and precision diagnosis and government support measures will be implemented to replace dilapidated trains at the earliest possible date. 

Q: Will you introduce polices to ensure the safety of railway facilities?

A: The ministry has established steps to innovate the safety of railways and expand a strong and safe railway infrastructure. A full-life cycle career record system from a stage of construction of railway facilities to maintenance and discardment will be introduced to reinforce the safety of railway facilities, which are on the rise and are getting more dilapidated. An optimum maintenance and repair time will be secured in consideration of the safe operation of railway trains and users’ convenience. Reflecting an investment paradigm shift from a focus on construction to one on renewal, a mid- and long-term railway facility renovation plan will be established, while expanding investments to secure safety.

Improving railway station facilities prone to accidents will be prioritized with the goal of reducing accidents by 30 percent by 2017; an environment for caring the handicapped will be created, and public awareness toward safety rules will be spread. 

Q: What roles does the Railway Safety Policy Bureau play for the support of landing overseas high-speed railway projects?

A: Korea has developed 400km/h multiple power high-speed trains, which are considered favorable when it comes to winning overseas high-speed railway projects. Commercialization of multiple power high-speed railway trains with diverse speeds are under way.

Safety is the most significant factor for entering the overseas railway market, as is the case in Brazil. Given that the railway industry attaches top priority to reliability, any occurrence of railway accidents claiming lives would make the exploration of overseas railway markets virtually impossible. Therefor, we devote ourselves to ensuring safety management so that overseas markets can trust the safety of the Korean railway industry. Secondary and tertiary safety devices are employed to secure the safety of the Korean high-speed network to world-class standards. The steps to innovate the safety of the railway are designed to prevent the possible occurrence of accidents. 

Q: Will you tell us about the current status and prospects of the global railway industry?

A: The global railway market is valued at some 221 trillion won. The railway train and stock sector accounts for 60 percent of the total. Korea takes up a 2 percent share in the global railway train and stock market. 

By area, the Asian region is the biggest, with some 63 trillion won, and the Asian and Middle Eastern/African markets are forecast to lead in growth. China’s integration of two railway train producers bracing for the saturation of the Chinese market and its implementation of export-oriented market policies are likely to create fierce competition. 

Korea’s aggressive exploration of overseas markets beyond the narrow domestic market is essential for the development of the Korean railway industry. Our ministry plans to pour more than 81 billion won into R&D activities designed to develop core parts and material technologies and nurture railway superstar SMEs by 2017. We will redouble efforts to reinforce the competitiveness of the Korean railroad industry by providing institutional support to SMEs for technology verification and commercialization and expertise manpower development.

Q: Will you introduce the supervising of quality management of railway facilities related to safety?

A: The ministry has placed large-scale projects, large-scale cutting-slope sections and portions built with specialized engineering methods into special surveillance. A central quality safety management team comprising structure and soil experts will be formed to conduct in-depth inspections more than twice yearly. 

We also conduct checks-up to remove dangerous elements from existing facilities and accident-prone portions. 

A comprehensive trial operation is also done to secure the safety of newly-built or renovated railway routes prior to commercial operation. Trial operations of 14 projects are planned this year. Out of the total, seven projects, including the Honam high-speed line project, have already been completed.