Processing and analysis of fault and deviation reports

The ways in which urban rail transport organisations handle deviations and manage the identified risks differ from each other. Especially in Helsinki, the system designed for reporting deviations is also used for reporting general maintenance needs and faults. Other reports are made many times more often than safety incidents, and the processing of reports continually ties up a lot of resources.
If safety deficiencies are not clearly distinguished from other notifications, there is a risk that they will not be detected. There is also a risk that safety incidents will become more commonplace and that any systematic risks behind them will not be identified.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency ensure that, in the procedures for reporting and processing deviations in urban rail traffic, operators clearly distinguish safety-related matters from fault notifications and that safety deviations are systematically processed and analysed.

Fault analysis should also be developed further. In metro and tram traffic systems, several repeating fault clusters were observed in, for example, turnouts, signalling systems and rolling stock doors. By analysing faults and their frequency, safety can be improved and the reliability and functionality of traffic can be improved.

The ways in which urban rail transport organisations handle deviations and manage the identified risks differ from each other. Especially in Helsinki, the system designed for reporting deviations is also used for reporting general maintenance needs and faults. Other reports are made many times more often than safety incidents, and the processing of reports continually ties up a lot of resources.
If safety deficiencies are not clearly distinguished from other notifications, there is a risk that they will not be detected. There is also a risk that safety incidents will become more commonplace and that any systematic risks behind them will not be identified.