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.
This conference attracts railway industry representatives, road authorities, academics, and many others from around the world who are working to raise awareness about the dangers surrounding level crossings.
More information on the previous ILCAD 2022 conference
To access the ILCAD Conference 2022 recorded at the Cable Center on June, 9 during ILCAD conference visit
2023 International Conference to launch the 15th edition of the International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) campaign will be held at the Royal Castle of Warsaw : see programme below.
TRESPAD
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 Trespass and Suicide Prevention Conference to launch this second “TRESPAD” campaign aims to share with industry partners the key activities that existing programmes are undertaking. Through this conference we will aim to identify what exists, what else is needed, what individual organisations can do to help prevent trespass and suicides and how we can work much closer together on these issues.
The first edition was launched in Denver, USA on 9 June 2022, hosted by AAR/FRA/OLE.
Public targeted during TRESPAD 2023 campaign: “Young people”
Slogan 2023 : "Tracks are for Trains !”
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 RSSB, UK, Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network on behalf of UIC
10:15 – 11:05 Data and investigation on railway trespassing and suicides
Tadeusz Ryś, President of the Polish State Commission on Railway Accident Investigation (PKBWK)
Nuno Duarte Gregório, Railway Safety Inspector and Graça Carvalho Brígida IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes = Portuguese NSA): “Trespasses and rail suicides in Portugal”
11:05 – 11:25 Coffee break - Exhibition
11:25 – 13:00 Suicide prevention session
Hilary Konczal, Chief Safety & Environmental Officer, METRA Commuter Railroad, USA: “How to prevent rail suicides through internal and external solutions”
Dr. Patrick Sherry, University of Denver, USA: “Preventing Rail Trespasser Suicide: Effectiveness of Frontline Railroad Employee Training”
Lola Barre, Papageno Programme, Suicidal Hotspot Prevention Consultant, and Igor Thonnelier, national accident and terrorist attacks’ emergency manager, SNCF Réseau, France “Papageno programme for the prevention of localized suicidal contagion (hot-spots) and prevention of accidents to persons and suicides on the French railway network (SNCF Réseau)”
Luc Sillen, Suicide action plan manager, INFRABEL, Belgium: “Action plan against suicide in Belgium”
Robert Wainwright, Head of Level Crossings and 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, Research Safety Standards Board, RSSB, GB: “Trespass risk assessment”
Mgr. Pavlina Skládaná, Researcher, Centrum dopravního výzkumu (Transport Research Centre), Czech Republic: “How do new projects reflect the issue of trespassing?”
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”
17:20 – 17:45
Wrap up by Dr. Ann Mills, Deputy Director System Safety & Health at RSSB, UK, Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network
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)
17:45 End of TreSPAD day - Exhibition
Social events: more information on the 3-day-programme overview (attached).
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
• Delegate from the Polish Ministry 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
Dr. Ing. Ignacy Góra, President of the Office Rail Transport (UTK): “Level crossing safety approach in Poland”
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– 13:10
DATA / RISK ASSESSMENT / INVESTIGATION
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”
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 risk at user-worked level crossings in the UK”
Papa Malick SAMB - Les Grands Trains du Sénégal (GTS)from Senegal (tbc)
Delegate from Bangladesh: “Road and Level crossing safety in Bangladesh: a challenge” (tbc)
Virginie Taillandier, Project Manager, SNCF: “Level crossing in the relaunch of regional lines”
14:45 – 15:10 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, Stakeholder Engagement, and Future Test Bed Plans”
15:10 – 15:45 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”
15:45 – 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”
FS Group (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana and ANAS, Italy): “New safety awareness campaign on railway tracks (to prevent trespassing), on platforms (to prevent falls) and at level crossings” presented by Isabelle Fonverne (UIC) on behalf of RFI
16:50 – 17:10
Wrap up 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).
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.
