In order to improve safety culture and sustainable development, the “Safety Day” event was held at the Iran University of Science and Technology on 18 February 2016, hosted by the School of Railway Engineering with the cooperation of Iranian Railways (RAI). High ranking officials and managers of RAI, in particular the President of RAI, safety managers and experts from RAI and also rail industry representatives as well as the students of the school of Railway Engineering attended this special ceremony.

In his opening speech, Dr. Saeed Mohammadzadeh, Vice-Minister for Road and Urban Development, and President of RAI, stated that the Iranian Government has allocated a special and separate budget for the development of rail transport in 2017 which shows the importance and high capacity of rail transport in the development of the country. He mentioned some specials plans which have been considered and approved at the sixth country five-year development plan (2016-2020) for investment in rail transport and many advantages allocated for this area.

The main topics discussed during the event were railway accident analysis, focus on experiences about safety at level crossings, crisis management and its role in rail accidents, safety management and risk identification in the rail transport of dangerous goods and the students of the school of railway engineering presented the results of their thesis and research about railway safety in various fields. He added that if we want to have a safe railway we should think, consider, observe and plan all our activities according to safety culture.

It should be mentioned that due to the importance of safety culture this was the third consecutive year that a special safety day was assigned for rail safety and Iranian Railways places great importance on promoting rail safety and culture in the rail industry and community of the country.