Overview
The occurrence of suicides and trespasses on railway property, result in costly service disruption.
The aim of the RESTRAIL project is to reduce the occurrence of suicides and trespasses on railway property and the costly service disruption these events cause, by providing the rail industry with an analysis and identification of cost-effective prevention and mitigation measures.
The project starts by identifying the state of the art of best practices and research findings (inside and outside Europe) combined with an analysis of factors (internal to railways or external such as media communication) influencing the occurrence of suicides and trespasses and their consequences. This work will be based on official data sources and other collected data. It will consider hotspots and other high risk access points such as level crossings, station platform ends and bridges.
This is followed by an assessment of existing countermeasures (technical and soft) for reducing suicides, preventing trespasses and mitigating the consequences on rail operations. Attention will then be given to the development of new approaches particularly those involving soft measures. The project will demonstrate some selected measures in order to evaluate the findings and finally develop recommendations and guidelines.
This project is led by railways since it is a rail related topic which aims to answer the concerns of the rail industry. However an essential feature of the project is the involvement of a wide range of relevant professional expert knowledge in the areas of human science and health, law enforcement, emergency services, education and social services, media and communication, road and rail. This will ensure the project output is of practical use to all who can be involved with suicides and trespasses.
The final outcome will be a toolkit, accessible through a user friendly interface (for consultation and continuous update) in order to support the decision-makers in taking practical steps to reduce suicides and trespasses and to mitigate the consequences once an event occurs.
Funding
Results
Making railways a safer place
Railways and railway stations can be subject to vandalism and suicides. Improved measures could help avoid mishaps and tragedies, while strengthening security and punctuality
From vandalising trespassers to disturbing suicide attempts, railway infrastructure is often targeted by individuals who want to make a statement or who are unhappy with their lives. This can cause a major service disruption for thousands of travellers and result in significant delays. The EU-funded project http://www.restrail.eu/ (RESTRAIL) (Reduction of suicides and trespasses on railway property) aimed to reduce the occurrence of trespasses and suicides on railway property. These factors have been assessed as the most ideal prevention and mitigation measures.
To achieve its aims, the project outlined best practices and research data from around the globe, analysing factors that influence these acts and investigating consequences. It studied current countermeasures to develop new ways of coping with occurrences, with the aim of producing a set of recommendations and guidelines on the topic.
Bringing together experts from the rail industry, as well as the police, emergency services, academia and media, the project created a web-based toolkit to support authorities in reducing suicides and trespasses. The project team collected and analysed valuable data on railway suicides and trespassing accidents, in addition to having identified measures to reduce these incidents.
Among its key achievements, the project team developed tools and methods based on the most effective soft measures (e.g. media efforts) and hard measures (technical solutions). From education campaigns to high-tech deterrents, the railway sector can help discourage the phenomena in question and streamline its operations.
By providing decision makers in the rail sector with the tools to mitigate suicides and trespasses, the RESTRAIL project will help improve the safety, security and reliability of rail transport.