Independent Safety Assessments / Independent Verification & Validation
We are fully familiar with the roles of ISA and are able to offer a combined service. EN50126 defines safety assessments as “the undertaking of an investigation to arrive at a judgement, based on evidence, of the suitability of a product.”
The ISA objective would naturally include consideration of the level of compliance to CENELEC EN50126, 50129, 50128 and/or CSM-RA, which define the requirements for safety related electronic systems. Note however that for electrical, mechanical or other systems, other standards may be applicable.
As a completely independent company we would be independent of the specification, design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of the product or system and free from the commercial pressures of the originator. An assessor is specified as independent from the development team so that assumptions about the correctness of a design, the way it works, and the way it is intended to be used are not so readily made by an ISA.
ISA’s are mandatory in many countries where national railway safety authorities are in charge of issuing safety certificates, authorisations for placing in service or safety authorisations. However, ISA requirements vary depending on the vehicle type and the country or region in which approval is sought. In addition, the focus of an ISA may vary depending on the project – while light-rail vehicles and metro projects may need to follow specific national standards and requirements, trains running on main lines generally need to comply with a more complex process.
Whilst Trent Design and Engineering is not accredited to EN17020 the certified quality management system for 9001 contains the requirements of EN17020.
Our ISA services cover mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic systems and the use of experienced associates we can also cover electrical, electronic and software-controlled systems, propulsion, and energy supply. Our experts can provide assessments for all technical categories of rolling stock production, enabling us to offer efficient ISA not only for single categories but also for an entire vehicle or train set.
In recent years we have been involved with a wide range of ISA services to various customers globally. Examples of work completed include the following projects;
- EWC MTR Hong Kong – IKK conversion of SP1900. Mechanical systems assessor.
- Purple Line Bangkok – New rolling stock from J-Trec. Mechanical systems assessor.
- Beijing Metro – New rolling stock from CRC Changchun and CRC Sifang. Mechanical systems assessor.
- HCM metro Vietnam – New rolling stock from Hitachi. Lead ISA and Mechanical systems assessor.
- Israel Metro – New rolling stock from CRC Changchun. Lead ISA and Mechanical systems assessor.
- RailCare (Yellow Plant) – Review of the pneumatic and hydraulic brake systems
- Singapore C165 re-tractioning – Review of underframe mounted equipment and vehicle safety and dynamics
- UK Class 321 and Class 455 re-tractioning – review of vehicle and bogie gauging and vehicle dynamics
In addition to the ISA roles we can also offer IV&V assessments and having been involved extensively with the Class 395 and IEP safety cases we can offer assistance with the development of train and system safety cases.