- Railway company Slovakia is investing 9.8 million euros in safety technologies.
- New radio stations and recording equipment will be installed by the end of 2029.
- Black boxes record the image from the cameras and the driver’s communication.
The Slovak Railway Company (ZSSK) announced a public tender for the modernization of safety technologies in selected railway vehicles. The carrier plans to equip part of its fleet with 29 radio stations and 164 recording devices – the so-called black boxes. As ZSSK reported on Tuesday, the expected value of the order is 9.8 million euros without value added tax. The project is planned to be financed from the funds of the European Union in the Program Slovakia 2021 to 2027.
“Recording systems protect not only passengers, but also train drivers, because in the event of an emergency, they make it possible to show exactly what actually happened on the track. Similar recording devices are a common part of modern railway vehicles in Europe and are among the standard safety technologies in rail transport. said ZSSK spokesman Ján Baček.
After signing the contract with the selected supplier, the new systems should be gradually installed in the selected vehicles by the end of 2029. The project follows on from the first stage of modernization from 2021 and is also based on the measures of the Action Plan for increasing the safety of railway transport in Slovakia, which was approved by the Government of the Slovak Republic.
“The radios will be installed in selected motor and control wagons. In addition to communication in the GSM-R system, they can also work in the national radio networks used by the manager of the railway infrastructure – the Railways of the Slovak Republic (ŽSR),” explained the spokesperson. The introduction of the GSM-R system is also a requirement on lines included in the trans-European transport network TEN-T and on lines with traffic dispatch control.
Recording devices will be installed in selected locomotives, control wagons and complete units. Blackbox records the image from the cameras on the front and rear of the vehicle, and in the case of electric vehicles, also the image of the area of the collector of the traction line. The system also includes a recording of the driver’s communication via radio stations. “The black boxes also include a rear-view camera system that increases safety when closing the doors and leaving the station. These rear-view cameras are shown on the displays in the driver’s cabs,” Baček pointed out.
Data obtained according to ZSSK they make it possible to accurately reconstruct the course of extraordinary events, speed up the investigation of accidents and provide the basis for taking preventive safety measures. At the same time, objective recording helps to protect both railway employees and passengers by allowing the event to be accurately documented.
The project is part of wider measures of ZSSK to modernize technologies and systematically increase the safety standards of railway transport in Slovakia. According to the carrier, these devices represent another important security element that will help strengthen the protection of passengers, employees and the operation itself.
