Railway traffic safety has become a priority

Interview with Mr. Ion MIHAILA
of the Traffic Department with CFR-SA

Railway Journal: Could you introduce yourself so that our readers could get to know you?

Ion Mihaila: I graduated from the Transport Faculty, TTTF section in 1980. Since 1983 I have been in the following positions: chief of station, chief of RC, chief of the movement department, chief of the commercial department, exploiting manager, general manager, manager of the CF department and now traffic manager.

RJ: What does it mean this position for you?

IM: Much more work, much more operative activity of synthesis, of network organisation, much more rules and interdependence between the railway operators.

RJ: Which are the immediate priority activities?

IM: First I would like to deal with the traffic organisation activity (exploitation, infrastructure access, trains' traffic program, contrail and training) so that I should be able to offer a qualitative aspect to the traffic in maximum safe conditions. I cannot omit the fact increasing the safety level is obtained only by introducing efficient centralizing and signaling devices that will insure all the parameters of traffic and maneuver in maximum security conditions. Thus, there have been developed supplementary security systems in concordance with the traffic signal indicatives.

RJ: What programs are in process at the moment in one of the most important departments of the CFR-SA as it is the Traffic Department?

IM: Within our department we are developing now a series of very important actions. I point here the implementation of the informational program IRIS a very important component that realises the traffic monitoring and enables a better supervision, insuring thus the operative decisions to reduce as much as possible the personae and the freight trains' delay. The importance of this system consists of the fact that it includes five other applications covering the entire railway infrastructure field. These applications are:
1. Railway infrastructure management that will computerize al the maintenance activities creating the support for the administration of costs and investments with the infrastructure;
2. Trains traffic monitoring through the computerization of the planning and price fundament activities;
3. Management of the rolling stock that will computerize all the administrative and maintenance activities for the rolling stock insuring the support for all the costs with these fixed assets;
4. Management of the exploitation activity for the freight transportation;
5. Insuring the informative support for management (MIS) providing the necessary information for the operative managerial levels for each sector separately.
Implementing such a system means a very ambitious project based on a unique concept within Europe, because it concerns the railway activity in general.
The next step will be signing the contracts for the access on the infrastructure with the main railway transport operators regarding the obligations and tasks of the CFR-SA as the direct administrator of the infrastructure according to the rules of the UE and of the national laws. We also have to complete the Disposition 9/9.03.2000 list including the taxes the CFR-SA apply and collect with new taxes and procedures of tax collecting and accounting.
The railway transport operators will use the railway public infrastructure without any discrimination, obeying all the safety conditions stipulated in the contract and imposed by instructions and rules. Their obligation is to make available for the CFR SA all the information regarding the train components (engine type, train length, number of wagons, their characteristics, train weight, etc.); information about the possible particularities of the wagons (whether RIV/RIC, whether carrying dangerous substances according to RID, etc); seeped limitations imposed by the rolling stock, and also other necessary information for a safe traffic.
Another project which is about to complete is the implementation of the computerized system VST (ex COM RECO). It performs all the timetables, ideal traffic graphics and the books for the personae and freight trains. This system is now under testing. We have already introduced the geographic data and the access time; once over, it will be effectively put in function.

RJ: What other projects will you perform until the end of the year?

IM: One of the problems I have to deal it soon is the organization of the control and training department. This department will coordinate the office activity from the eighth traffic divisions. This department will be in permanent touch with the entire network, monitoring their activity.
Another long term project is the taking over of the 220 cantons with rail-tracks from the Rail Division; also revising the control and training modalities for the personnel involved in these posts, is a very important action as well. Then, we will reanalyze the affiliation issue after this taking over (stations, halts); we will create the organizing conditions and begin the remaking work at the PTE of the stations and halts according to the new rules. There are a lot of other projects and I am sure we will talk about them with some other occasion since I think is too soon to approach them.

RJ: Thank you very much.