On November 27 2023, exactly six years after the Morlanwelz drama, Belgian railway infrastructure manager Infrabel introduced the Rombit rail worker safety system Infralert, intended to significantly increase the safety of railroad workers. Six years may seem a long time, but up until now no technical solution presented itself that could address all types of risks while being easily and quickly deployable.
A significant date
Six years ago, on November 27 2017, a train involved in a minor accident was towed away in Morlanwelz, a hilly part of southern Belgium. A failure in the coupling system caused three empty train cars to roll downhill, towards a group of unsuspecting trackside workers. Two workers did not survive the collision and two others suffered severe injuries. This incident shook the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims and reverberated throughout the entire railway industry.
Fatal stagnation of rail worker safety
While railroad worker safety has improved substantially over the last half century, this trajectory seems to have stagnated. In exact figures the total number of accidents may be relatively low, but the injury severity is disproportionally high. Overall, the past few years there is even an increase in the number of incidents with serious injuries and fatalities amongst trackside workers. It requires tellingly little effort to list just some examples of 2023: May, Cologne (Germany) two fatalities. April, Voorschoten (Netherlands): one fatality, August Brandizzo (Italy): five fatalities.
A unique challenge
Ensuring safety for those working on or near railroad tracks presents unique challenges. Current solutions and (legacy) systems prove increasingly outdated, struggling or otherwise inadequate. A situation that might be aggravated because of current European ‘rail renaissance’ strategies that aim to reduce CO2-emissions through railroad renovation, upgrades and expansion. It is in this context that in the final quarter of 2020, Infrabel, the company that owns, builds, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, sent out a Request for Information in search of a comprehensive trackside worker solution.
Enter Infralert by Rombit
Rombit, an Antwerp based safety technology pioneer, was a strong candidate from the get go. Combining innovative cutting edge technology and plug-and-play hardware, Rombit had already proven to drastically reduce vehicle-pedestrian collisions in warehousing and logistics industries. Initial testing results suggested Rombit’s solution was on the right track. Subsequent augmentation and refining in close collaboration with Infrabel, resulted in a tailormade world premiere, now baptized Infralert.
How it works
Infralert works with one or multiple, compact sensors, attached to railroad infrastructure at an appropriate distance from the work site. A wearable device alerts the worker(s) when an approaching train is detected, providing them ample time to avoid a train-worker-collision. A cloud-based platform connects sensors and wearable devices in real time. It also serves as backend for the mobile application specially developed for Infrabel, enabling site managers to efficiently and swiftly manage work sites.
Rollout in 2024
In addition to the tested and proven efficacy of Infralert in its primary safety objectives in rail worker safety, the solution offers other compelling features. Such as its non-reliance on existing railway infrastructure, its mobile first and responsive approach and its extreme user friendliness. Infrabel foresees a complete rollout of Infralert starting December 2023.