The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will expand a wireless remote-control shunting system and revise work procedures to prevent recurring accidents during rail car shunting, following another fatal accident at Uiwang Station. Shunting is the work of coupling, uncoupling, exchanging or moving rail cars to assemble a train.
The ministry said on the 9th that Kim Tae-byung, director general of the ministry's Railroad Bureau, will hold a meeting with Korea Railroad Corp. (Korail) to review the rollout and operation of the wireless remote-control shunting system and on-site safety management, and to discuss ways to widen its use.
Under the system, workers control rail cars remotely with a wireless device, without a locomotive engineer on board. The ministry said the approach eliminates at the source accidents caused by miscommunication between engineers and workers.
The ministry and Korail have pursued regulatory changes and equipment purchases since launching a pilot program at Daejeon Marshalling Yard in 2021. Three stations — Yeongju, Goedong and Jecheon Marshalling Yard — have completed pilot testing and are now in full operation. By next month, 11 wireless remote-control train sets will be deployed at 10 sites across eight stations, including Yeongju, Goedong, Jecheon Marshalling Yard (two sites), Susaek, Dodam, Daejeon Marshalling Yard, Donghae and Obong Station (two sites), with phased operation to follow worker training and pilot runs.
The system will also be extended to major work sites including Uiwang Station. The technology has so far been developed for medium-sized locomotives, however, so the ministry plans to broaden its application either by developing a version for large locomotives or by assigning dedicated medium-sized locomotives. The ministry is also reviewing the use of artificial intelligence video analysis to reduce workers' exposure to hazards, along with measures to allow workers to operate outside the locomotive as a rule.
Rail safety inspectors will conduct special checks at major shunting sites, and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS) will separately review railway safety management systems. Shortcomings found in the field are to be corrected immediately, and the ministry will reassess work procedures and safety management systems overall based on the findings to pursue regulatory improvements.
"Fatal accidents during shunting work must not be repeated any longer," Kim said. "We take very seriously the fact that another worker has died during shunting at Uiwang Station. We will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and the entire work process, and reflect the gaps in rules and procedures and the on-site risk factors identified in that investigation in the railway safety measures we will draw up in the second half of this year." Kim added: "The essence of safety measures is to fundamentally fix an approach that relies on individual workers' judgment and to create an environment where they can work safely. Along with expanding the wireless remote-control shunting system, we will prepare comprehensive railway safety measures including better work procedures, reinforced safety facilities and stronger on-site safety management."
