ILCAD 2023

ILCAD

The International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) is a worldwide initiative to improve awareness of level crossing safety. Since 2009 the campaign has been spearheaded by the International Union of Railways (UIC), the worldwide railway organisation with the support of the railway community around the world. About 50 countries usually take part in the ILCAD annual campaign.

Public targeted during ILCAD 2023 campaign: “Agricultural and industrial crossing users”
Slogan 2023 : "Tracks are for Trains !”

Each year, a partner country hosts the launch events where we may share good practices and projects to improve safety and reduce the accident toll.

More information on the previous ILCAD 2022 conference

2023 International Conference to launch the 15th edition of the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) campaign was held at the Royal Castle of Warsaw : see programme below.

UIC e-news articles after the events

UIC press releases before the events

TRESPAD 14 June

Trespass and Suicide events affect the whole of the rail industry with an adverse impact on safety, performance, reputation, costs and efficiency. It affects all parts of the business and the society as a whole and is therefore something that we must tackle together.

The International Trespass Awareness Day (TRESPAD) is also a UIC initiative to prevent railway trespassing.
The first edition was launched in Denver, USA on 9 June 2022, hosted by AAR/FRA/OLE.

The second edition was on 14 June 2023 and its launch conference took place at the National Institute of Polish Rural Culture and Heritage = Narodowy Instytut Kultury i Dziedzictwa Wsi on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street nearby the Castle of Warsaw (website only in Polish) nearby Warsaw Castle.

Public targeted during TRESPAD 2023 campaign: “Young people”
Slogan 2023 : "Tracks are for Trains !”

Overview of the 3-day-events

Programmes

TRESPAD Launch Conference - 14 June 2023

08:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:15 Opening of the Conference

Master of ceremony: Conrado Moreno

  • Katarzyna Kucharek, CEO of PKP Group Foundation, Poland, and Vice Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
  • Dr. Ann Mills, Deputy Director System Safety & Health at Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), UK and Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network on behalf of UIC

Data, investigation on railway trespassing and suicides

10:15 – 10:45

  • Nuno Duarte Gregório, Railway Safety Inspector and Graça Carvalho Brígida?, Railway Safety Assessor, IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes = Portuguese NSA): “Trespasses and rail suicides in Portugal”

Suicide prevention session (part 1)

10:45 – 11:10

  • Dr. Patrick Sherry, Dr. Patrick Sherry Research Professor and Director of the National Center for Intermodal Transportation, University of Denver, USA: “Preventing Intentional Death by Rail: An update on training in South California”

11:10 – 11:40 Coffee break - Exhibition

11:40 – 12:40

Suicide prevention session (part 2)

  • Lola Barre, Papageno Programme, Suicidal Hotspot Prevention Consultant, and Igor Thonnelier, national accident and terrorist attacks’ emergency manager, SNCF Réseau, France “Accidents to persons and suicides on the French railway network - Clinical knowledge about suicide contagion specifically on public places (hot-spots), prevention and treatment of railway deaths (SNCF Réseau)”
  • Luc Sillen, Suicide action plan manager and Gaëtan Van Overmeiren TeamLead Safety Monitoring & Safety Action plans at INFRABEL, Belgium: “Action plan against rail suicides in Belgium”

12:40 – 13:40 Lunch break - Exhibition

Trespass prevention session (part 1)

13:40 – 14:55

  • Robert Wainwright, Head of Public Safety, Network Rail, and Stuart Heaton, Managing Director Learn Live, UK: “The Story of Harrison Ballantyne and its impact on Public Behaviour”

RISK ASSESSMENT / RESEARCH AND DESIGN

  • Gemma Lavery, Professional Head of Public Safety and Charlotte Sweet, Assistant Strategy Implementation Manager, Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), UK: “Trespass risk assessment”
  • Mgr. Pavlina Skládaná, Researcher, Centrum dopravního výzkumu (Transport Research Centre), Czech Republic: “How do new projects reflect the issue of trespassing?”

14:55 – 15:25 Coffee break - Exhibition

Trespass prevention session (part 2)

15:25 – 17:05
ENGAGEMENT / EDUCATION / AWARENESS

  • Michael Long, Director Outreach Programs and Engagement: “Reducing Trespass and Grade Crossing Fatalities on the Brightline Florida (BLF) Corridor in South Florida”
  • Sanja Paic, President, Safety Guru Institute, Croatia: “The story of Hendrix”
  • Annelies De Keyser, Communication Business Partner and Catherine Gillard, Project Manager, INFRABEL, Belgium: ”New tools for railway safety awareness for young people”
  • Nils la Cour, Head of Department, DSB - Danish State Railways, Denmark and UIC Vice-Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network: “Communicating railway safety to children and teenagers”

17:05 – 17:20

  • Short wrap up by Dr. Ann Mills, Deputy Director System Safety & Health at Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), UK and Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network on behalf of UIC
  • Information on the social events on 14 and ILCAD conference on 15 June by Katarzyna Kucharek, CEO of PKP Group Foundation, Poland, and Vice Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)

17:30 max End of TreSPAD day - Exhibition

Social events: more information on the 3-day-programme overview (attached).

ILCAD Launch Conference - 15 June 2023

08:30 – 09:50 Registration
10:00 – 10:30 - Opening of the Conference

Master of ceremony: Conrado Moreno

  • • Krzysztof Mamiński, CEO of PKP S.A., UIC Chairman
  • • Delegate from the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure
  • • Maciej Małecki, Vice Minister of State Assets
  • • Katarzyna Kucharek, CEO of PKP Group Foundation, and Vice Chair of the UIC Global
    Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
  • • Isabelle Fonverne, Senior Advisor Safety, International Union of Railways

10:30– 11:15

  • Paweł Rafalski, Head of President’s Office on behalf of Dr. Ing. Ignacy Góra, President of the Office Rail Transport (UTK): “Level crossing safety approach in Poland” 20’
  • Daniel Biernacik, Train Driver at PKP Intercity S.A. representing the Polish Trade Union of Railway Drivers and the Federation of European Train Drivers Unions – ALE: “Level crossing safety from a Polish train driver’s perspective”

11:15 – 11:35 Coffee break - Exhibition

11:35– 13:05

DATA / RISK ASSESSMENT / INVESTIGATION

  • Dr. Julián Obaid, President of Junta de Seguridad en el Transporte (JST = national transport safety authority), Argentina: ”Situation of agro-industrial level crossings in Argentina and interventions by the National Department of Railway Incidents Investigation”
  • Papa Malick SAMB - Les Grands Trains du Sénégal (GTS)from Senegal: “Rail Safety and Senegalese Realities”
  • Joey de Mol, Senior Policy Officer, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands: ”Enhancing Railway Safety : Creating Stakeholder Awareness through Data and Insights ”
  • Robert Wainwright, Head of Public Safety, Network Rail, UK: ”Managing the risks presented by agricultural and industrial users of level crossings in the UK”

13:05 – 14:05 Lunch break - Exhibition

14:05 – 14:40 ENGINEERING

  • Olle Mornell, Senior Advisor Level Crossing Trafikverket, Sweden: “Alex, no "locked unlocked" gates anymore”
  • Virginie Taillandier, Project Manager, SNCF: “Level crossing issues on regional lines”

14:40 – 15:05 ENGAGEMENT / TRAINING

  • Dr. Starr Kidda, Human Factors Division Chief Office of Research, Development, and Technology U.S. DOT Federal Railroad Administration and Dr. Przemyslaw Rakoczy, Senior Rail Research Engineer, ENSCO inc., USA: “U.S. Government Grade Crossing Research and Stakeholder Engagement”

15:05 – 15:40 EDUCATION / COMMUNITY OUTREACH (part 1)

  • Dr. Danijela Baric, Professor, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Croatia: “Contribution of train-vehicle crash test to education and prevention: Results of an in-situ experiment held on a level crossing in an agricultural area in Croatia”
  • Maryam Hedayati, Senior Railway Engineer, Transport Canada: “Canada’s Grade Crossings Regulations-Agricultural Community Outreach”

15:40 – 16:15 Coffee break - Invite to the Exhibition

16:15 – 16:50 EDUCATION / COMMUNITY OUTREACH (part 2)

  • Wende Corcoran, Vice President Operation Lifesaver inc. (OLI), USA “Reaching Agricultural Workers Where They Are”
  • Isabelle Fonverne, UIC on behalf of Andrea BRANCO, RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana - FS Group) and ANAS, Italy: “RFI safety awareness campaign: Rules, a security for your safety”

16:50 – 17:10

  • Wrap up of both days (TRESPAD and ILCAD) by Allan Spence, Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)

17:10 – 17:20

  • Information on the social event on 15 June and the technical visit on 16 June 2023 by Katarzyna Kucharek, CEO PKP Group Foundation and Vice Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)

17:20 – 17:30

  • Invitation to the 2024 events by UIC together with the 2024 hosts

End of ILCAD day: 17:30 max

Social events: more information on the 3-day-programme overview (attached).

Technical Visit - 16 June 2023

We would like to thank our supporters WKD and UTK for organizing these visits.
The technical visits will be organised in 2 groups.
09:00: Meeting point: Place Defilad 1 near the Palace of Culture and Science, and the
Central station in Warsaw, transport by bus
More information: see overview of the 3-day-events document attached, scroll down

Speakers

For more information about speakers (biographies and photos) click here

Organising Committee

  • UIC would like to thank our hosts PKP and PKP Group Foundation for their support in the organisation of our events in Warsaw, Poland.

Supporters

We would like to thank our Polish supporters:
The Polish State Commission on Railway Accident (PKBWK) WKD and UTK = Polish Office of Rail Transport for organizing the technical visits.

Donors / Exhibitors

We would like to thank Schweizer Electronic ; IDS (Ingegnieria dei sistemi) and SORHEA for supporting our events.
Delegates will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition along the conferences during coffee and lunch breaks.