ANSFISA and ITALFERR agreement on upgrading safety and digitalisation of the railway system

Rome, 30 April – This morning, in Rome, an agreement was signed between ANSFISA [the National Railway, Road, and Motorway Safety Agency] and Italferr, the Gruppo FS Italiane's engineering company, on promoting digital systems, models and best practices for developing, managing, maintaining, and monitoring railway plants and sub-systems.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Deputy Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Edoardo Rixi, and the Under-Secretary of State, Alessandro Morelli, by Domenico Capomolla, Director of ANSFISA and Dario Lo Bosco, Italferr's Chief Executive Officer.

The main aim of the agreement, which focusses strongly on advanced digitalisation and innovative monitoring solutions, is to support development of the Country's railway system within a safe setting that is interconnected and technologically evolved, able to meet modern challenges by using intelligent, automated systems.

In fact, the agreement ushers in on-going, structured collaboration that leads to optimisation of digital management of information flows and how this is organised, related especially to the BIM (Building Information Modelling) system used to constantly monitor construction and phases of the life-cycle of infrastructural works, while taking the impact of worksites and maintenance works into account. In addition, aspects of digitalised certification will be gone into in greater depth. The agreement also provides for constant discussions between experts and professionals from the two organisations, in the form of technical meetings, practical workshops, and joint studies, in order to create an ever more modern, advanced, and shared safety culture, focussing on an integrated digitalisation, training, and innovation approach.

Before signing, the Under-Secretary of State to the Prime Minister's Office with a delegation to CIPESS, Alessandro Morelli, wished to point out that "agreements like these are a prototype for the Country when it comes to occupational safety actions. In fact, the technologies made available by the market make it possible to improve the quality of work for operators on worksites every day, as well as the safety of all our citizens. A higher level of safety is ensured by means of both checks and latest-generation instruments.”

“This collaboration marks a significant step in bolstering our supervision activities, by using ever more evolved digital instruments," – said Domenico Capomolla – "We are engaged in a context in which infrastructure safety calls for timely, in-depth, predictive knowledge, able to back effective, targeted actions. Italferr is a top notch engineering company, with whom we share the goal of innovating management processes for the entire life-cycle of the works. Besides technical aspects, the agreement also deals with training and dissemination of know-how, valorising the most advanced skills and solutions, benefitting the entire infrastructural system".

“This agreement sanctions strategic collaboration between Italferr and ANSFISA making Italy, via Gruppo FS, a driving force in digital engineering of plans and worksites for infrastructural works countrywide, while valorising Italferr's advanced 4D and 5D BIM (Building Information Modelling) platforms," pointed out Dario Lo Bosco, Italferr's Chief Executive Officer, "advanced control of works, times, and costs is essential for providing the Country with certainty in relation to works, while avoiding variants while the works are in progress, integrating worksite prevention and protection plans into digital plans, in order to better safeguard workers, while optimising safety and quality”.

“This Agreement will allow ANSFISA, along with Italferr, to go deeper into the possibilities offered by advanced digital systems for the purposes of railway system safety," added Pier Luigi Giovanni Navone, Director General for Railway Safety at ANSFISA. "One need simply consider the potential offered by the sixth dimension of BIM, related to management of the life-cycle of works, able to provide useful information on maintenance tasks, for the purposes of both programming and supervising the same”.

"Rail transport safety is no longer a technical question, it is now a strategic priority in terms of the competitiveness and social adhesion of our Country. As the Government and Mit", concluded Deputy-Minister Edoardo Rixi, "we have decided to take decisive action, with targeted investments, technological innovation, and great collaboration between institutions, law and order forces, and operators in the sector. This is the direction we have opted for: public transport that is safe, modern, and efficient. And we will continue along this road, because a safe infrastructure is synonymous with a strong, reliable Country".

In particular, the agreement focusses on certain priorities:

1. Management and Organisation of Information Flows in Shared Data Environments (ACDat): in order to improve communication efficiency between the various bodies involved in managing the railway infrastructures. This will be aimed at real-time testing of data management, improving the decision-making process and speed of operation, which are essential for guaranteeing the safety and punctuality of works.
2. Innovative Monitoring Systems using Advanced BIM: the use of advanced (4D, 5D, 6D and further) versions of Building Information Modelling will make it possible to check the impact of worksites and maintenance on railway traffic, using detailed simulations of the effects of operations on railway infrastructures, forecasting possible criticalities and optimising resource management. In addition, coordination of BIM models throughout the life-cycle of works will make continuous monitoring and proactive risk management possible.
3. Development of Digital Models for Critical Sub-Systems: the development of digital models for critical sub-systems, like fixed, signalling, and control systems, will allow an overall, up-to-date view of the status of infrastructures, with forecasting management of possible faults, thereby minimising safety risks and operating efficiency.
4. Looking in-depth at the sector's obligatory and voluntary norms: both the railway and data digitalisation systems sectors are evolving continuously. Safety also depends on in-depth analysis, updates, and training on the related normative settings.
5. Emerging Technologies for Managing Safety Certifications: the introduction of using a Blockchain for digital management of safety certifications will be aimed at consolidating clear advantages in terms of traceability and correctness of data, thereby reducing risks of errors and fraud.

This means that, by means of this agreement ANSFISA and Italferr are consolidating their commitment to digitalisation and innovative safety, promoting continuous evolution of the Country's railway network. The final goal is a safer, more efficient, and more sustainable infrastructure, able to deal with future challenges by means of advanced technologies, collaborative governance, and on-going training.