Reporting system roll out set to enhance tram safety

22 Mar 2023

An enhanced accident and incident reporting system has been welcomed by light rail leaders and is now ready to deliver a major boost for tramway safety.

At a pre-launch event in Birmingham this week, senior executives from all UK networks heard the Tram Accident and Incident Reporting system (TAIR) had reached another vital milestone.

Following months of intensive work, the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board is now ready to roll out an upgraded system designed to be even more effective and easier to use.

Carl Williams, LRSSB Chief Executive, explained: “From the outset, our primary focus has been to ensure TAIR helps individual networks, and the wider sector, to meet the Office of Rail and Road’s requirements for a centralised platform that gathers data for incident reporting and analysis.

“While tramways have an enviable safety record, the Sandilands accident in 2016 is a constant reminder of the importance of risk identification, as highlighted in the resulting Rail Accident Investigation Branch report.

“The enhancements to the system will make it much easier for all UK networks to use TAIR, which has a vital role to play in driving the development of effective risk models that will help prevent a similar tragedy.”

As part of a significant investment by the LRSSB in TAIR, consultants and software developers have worked closely with operators on enhancements designed to streamline and standardise the data input process, and also provide national and local outputs and analytics.

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback on the project from the light rail executives at the pre-launch event, which also featured a keynote address by the ORR’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways, Richard Hines,” Mr Williams said.

“We would like to thank him for joining us in introducing the enhanced TAIR system to the wider light rail sector,” he added.

Caption:

Pictured at the TAIR pre-launch event are (from left to right): HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways, Richard Hines; Carl Williams, LRSSB Chief Executive; William Renfrew, TAIR lead developer at software solutions company Synergi; and Russell Copley, TAIR Project Lead.