Rail Safety Review
The Department for Infrastructure (the Department) acts as the Rail Safety Authority (RSA) for the Northern Ireland and is responsible for ensuring compliance with the rail safety and interoperability framework. The Department does this in accordance with the Railway Safety Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 and associated regulations.
The Department had last undertaken a review of the extant NI legislative base with regards to rail safety in 1999, which resulted in, the Railway Safety Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 and associated secondary regulations.
However, the Department’s role as Rail Safety Authority developed in a piecemeal fashion in response to transposing EU directives. During preparations for EU Exit it became increasingly clear that existing policy, legislative and operational arrangements for rail safety and interoperability could benefit from a formal review to ensure arrangements are fit for purpose.
The Department conducted a comprehensive review, which given the complexity of the subject matter and to meet the primary objectives, it was necessary to carry out in three phases.
Phase 1 highlighted the full extent of the statutory duties and functions of the Department, as well as potential gaps.
Phase 2 offered some insights into potential options for organising these duties and functions based on the lessons from rail safety regulators in other jurisdictions as well as NI based regulators in other fields.
Phase 3 set out the views of stakeholders in terms of their preferences for organising the duties and functions of the rail regulator.