Safety Critical Software in Rail (SCSR) Training

About the Course

The course has been updated to reflect the publication of the new standard EN50716:2023 Railway Applications — Requirements for software development. The Safety Critical Software in Rail course is a blended training programme providing software developers, engineers, testers, managers and others involved in safety-related projects with a detailed understanding of the fundamentals of safety critical software development and testing. This course is supported by a competency-based structure.

The opening module provides background to software lifecycle, the standards and their application in the railway drawing upon best practice. The next modules introduce a number of incidents where software failures resulted in incidents. The succeeding modules go into depth regarding the content, aims and requirements for developing software for the railway in accordance with EN50716 for all SIL levels.

The course content is mapped to:

• Industry standard competencies, skills and evidence requirements relevant to rail safety work
• Industry regulations
• National and international standards

Information is interspersed with practical exercises. There is a short multiple-choice examination at the end to assess the identified learning outcomes.

Who Should Attend

Any member of staff – decision makers, project managers, line managers, engineers, designers and others – who want to know what is safety critical software in rail and are involved with changes to the railway need an understanding of the latest best practice. The course provides a structured and robust approach to developing and testing complex railway projects safely that is aligned with the LATEST CENELEC standard EN50716:2023.

Key Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the principles and language of safety critical software
• Appreciate software risk in the context of railway design and safety management
• Describe how software design and the software safety lifecycle interact and influence each other
• Appreciate how current best practices in software safety standards and in particular, the latest EN50716:2023
• Understand the need for a risk-based system engineering lifecycle approach to enable built-in safety, value and performance
• Understand how to review case studies to understand the potential for things to go wrong on the railway
• Understand the complexity of railway accidents involving software failures
• The demonstration of SFAIRP and compliance in regard to software
• Identify and mitigate Security issues from cyber threats

Course Prerequisite

Participants should have a general understanding of engineering and project management principles and practices.

Course Information

Instructional Delivery Method: Schedule Digital
Prerequisite & Advanced Preparation: Reading material will be sent prior to the course

Delivered by Dr Howard Parkinson

Dr. Howard Parkinson is a Chartered Engineer contributing to global standards in railway safety, software and systems engineering. With over 20 years of international experience, he has held senior roles in signalling, rolling stock, infrastructure, and railway systems, including Systems Assurance Manager and Head of Systems Engineering and Safety. His expertise spans metro, tram, and heavy rail, with a focus on safety, compliance, and reliability.

Delivered by Dan Basher

Dan Basher is an accomplished railway software and safety professional based in Lancaster, with expertise in systems and compliance. He has played a pivotal role in the collaboration between the University of Huddersfield and Digital Transit Limited, contributing to the development of RAPORS—an innovative tool designed to support regulatory compliance in rail safety critical software development.

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