곽상록

Vol. 40,  No. 2, pp. 74-80, Apr.  2025
10.14341/JKOSOS.2025.40.2.74

railway safety UAV(Unmanned aerial vehicle) Risk Assessment SORA(Specific Operations Risk Assessment)

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To operate a safe railway, it is necessary to manage the condition of many railway components, such as tracks, signals, bridges, overhead wires, and railway crossings, which are crucial for safe railway operations. The maintenance and inspection of major railway facilities are performed at set intervals, during which train operation is suspended. In the event of a breakdown or failure of major facilities, workers are dispatched to respective sites to assess the condition and pursue appropriate safety measures. However, domestic railway lines have numerous tunnels and bridges, and there is plenty of mountainous terrain; consequently, maintenance experts take a lot of time to access the site, assess the condition, and perform maintenance activities. During this time, trains run at a lower speed than the set speed or stop operating altogether, which disrupts train operations. In this study, we conducted a feasibility study on the condition management of railway facilities using large unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It is essential to use UAVs that are larger and heavier than those currently used to operate unmanned vehicles in areas that are not visible to the eye, to operate long-distance round trips of 20 km or more, and to install high-performance equipment. This study conducted a risk assessment for operating such large unmanned vehicles and applied the Specific Operations Risk Assessment technique, suggested by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The results of the study can be effectively applied to the domestic railway industry.