Riyadh Metro - Independent Safety Assessment
Challenge
In response to Riyadh’s rapid growth – its population is forecast to increase from 5.5m (2010) to 8.3 million by 2030 - the Arriyadh Development Authority initiated the development of a metro network for the city.
The six-line 175km driverless system was conceived and designed to consist of 84 air-conditioned stations, connecting central districts with outlying residential areas, alleviating the city's notorious traffic congestion.
To provide confidence the programme would be built to the highest safety standards, Ricardo was appointed by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) in 2015 to bring our experience of constructing systems in similar climates – e.g Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi - and ensure best practice is applied and issues resolved without disruption to the overall project schedule.
Approach
As the Employer's Independent Safety Assessor, our support centred around the assessment and auditing of the safety management and safety assurance activities for:
The Design & Build Consortiums (BACS, FAST and ANM) with respect to their responsibilities for the design, build, manufacture, integration, testing, commissioning and hand over of the railway's engineering systems to the O&M contractors, at the individual subsystem and integrated railway system levels. This included:
- Safety plans
- Hazard analyses and safety studies
- Safety requirements
- Hazard logs
- Design safety cases
- Other safety related project and engineering plans
- Manufacturing, installation and construction processes
- Verification, testing and acceptance plans
- Safety validation plans
- Processes for safety validation and hazard closure
- Final system engineering safety cases.
And for the eventual O&M contractors, CAMCO and FLOW, who share responsibility for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the six lines, including their:
- Operational and Maintenance readiness for the start of trial running and passenger services
- Trial running test plans, procedures and reports
- Execution of trial running
- Rule book
- Operations processes and procedures
- Maintenance processes and procedures
- Hazard logs
- Operational safety cases.
Results
E-ISA assessment reports were produced for each of the six lines at each major project lifecycle phase, which helped the project to obtain the necessary approvals, and supported the issuance of Safety Certificates and the Operating Licenses by the Transport General Authority (TGA) – the railway regulator for Saudi Arabia.
The first lines opened for passenger operation in 2024. Once all stations are operational (summer 2025) the system will be the world’s largest driverless (GoA4) metro system
What is an Independent Safety Assessment?
An Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) is a service undertaken by a third party to confirm that a product, system or entire railway meets recognised industry, legal and regulatory standards that relate to safety.
It can encompass the safety assessment and audit of any design, manufacture, installation, testing and safety documentation for the engineering systems, and extend to any procedures, preparations and safety policies in place ahead of a railway's entry into service or a product's release to the market.
ISA can be provided as an accredited service (ie against specific/mandated regulations) by one of our registered Certification companies, or unaccredited, which is typically as a voluntary exercise by a manufacturer or system developer seeking to demonstrate their commitment to safety.
Results
Appointing an ISA demonstrates a commitment to safe, sustainable and efficient operations.
By proving that the safety aspects of a product or system have been subjected to rigorous and continual oversight by a third party with no financial interest or connection to the project, the project's owners are sending a reassuring message of transparency to passengers, regulators, investors and employees.