On the 3rd, 4th and 5th of November, the “Rail Safety Days”, promoted by the ERA (European Railway Agency), were held in the Portuguese city of Porto.
The event was attended by numerous experts in the field, from all the railway institutions and organisations with relevance in Europe and related to Railway Safety, like Railway Undertakings, Infrastructure Managers, Suppliers, etc.
The European train drivers’ union, ALE, participated as one of the 4 commentators who intervened throughout the event after the rounds of presentations and made a final summary at the end of the conference. In addition to highlighting the value of the profession of train driver and its close relationship with Safety, a fundamental part of our interventions and demands in Europe, the importance of accompanying the Safety Culture in the railway sector with the application of a Just Culture, which really serves to make the system safer, generating a climate of trust when it is necessary to report incidents or events related to Safety without the fear of being punished or persecuted for it, was also highlighted. Drivers often feel that they are the last link in the safety chain, and sometimes the only link.
Train drivers were one of the main levers that served as an example of a group that is affected in a special way. For all these reasons, we will continue to highlight the professionalism of all our colleagues and the importance of developing a Justa Safety Culture and useful reporting tools, as a safe railway is an attractive railway for both workers and users. Professions such as ours are nourished by female train drivers who decide to join this beautiful profession because it is becoming more reliable every day.
ALE continues to be a benchmark for railway driving in Europe and from here we continue working to make the European railway a safer and more efficient railway, which serves as an element of recovery and fulfils its function as a backbone in line with respect for the environment.