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Remote control equipment commissioning process
Date issue released
Issue number
RO-2018-014-SI-03
Issue Status
No longer relevant
Transport Function
Rail: Rolling stock
Issue Owner
TasRail
Mode of Transport
Rail
Safety Issue Description

TasRail commissioned the manufacture of, and continued to use, redesigned safety-critical remote control equipment for operating a locomotive without systematic assurance of its safety, leading to excessive reliance on the manufacturer. This was because TasRail did not:

  • fully engage with the development process from initial design through to commissioning, or understand the extent of design changes associated with the introduction of the generation 3 RCE (which reduced the capability to prevent, identify and resolve design and integration problems)
  • explicitly identify and impose safety requirements
  • verify that the overall system met a specified level of safety.
Issue Status Justification

TasRail advised that it had withdrawn all remote-control technology. The withdrawal of all remote-control technology negates the need for safety action to directly address each aspect of the safety issue as the system in question is no longer in use.

Proactive action
Action number
RO-2018-014-PSA-07
Organisation
TasRail
Action date
Action Status
Closed
Action description

On 15 July 2022 TasRail advised that it had withdrawn all remote-control technology.

See Management of safety-related change (RO-2018-014-SI-05) for additional safety action undertaken by TasRail to provide safety assurance to future projects.