Harmonised safety certificate
On 25 March 2021, Koleje Śląskie became the first railway operator in Poland to be awarded the Harmonised Safety Certificate, confirming compliance with the safety requirements under the so-called 4th Railway Package. The certificate is valid from 1 April 2021 to 1 April 2026.
Certificate of conformity for an entity in charge of maintenance (ECM)
The Koleje Śląskie company also acts as the entity responsible for maintenance for the rolling stock in operation. The current ECM Certificate of Conformity was issued to the company by the President of the Office of Rail Transport on 21 April 2025 and is valid until 21 April 2030.
Safety and maintenance policy
The Management Board of Koleje Śląskie has adopted the Safety and Maintenance Policy, which is the foundation for the implementation of the Integrated Safety and Maintenance Management System in the company, its continuous improvement and any activities aimed at increasing the safety level of the entire rail transport system.
Safety culture in rail transport
In 2016, Koleje Śląskie signed the Declaration on the Development of Safety Culture in Rail Transport, which is an initiative of the President of the Office of Railway Transport. The group of more than 300 signatories actively promotes measures to improve the safety of the entire rail transport system and participates in exchanges of best practices in this area. The company has also signed a declaration promoted by the European Union Railway Agency – the European Railway Safety Culture Declaration.
Awards
In the 5th edition of the Safety Culture Competition organised by the President of the Office of Railway Transport in 2021, Koleje Śląskie won an award in the Systemic Solution category for the ‘Map of railway events and incidents’ project developed by Katarzyna Gawlak, Head of the Safety Management System Department. The tool has been implemented in the company as an innovative way of presenting data on railway events, which enables drawing conclusions and keeping up-to-date with information on safety hotspots on routes served by Koleje Śląskie on a daily basis. The solution is used in the training process, and can also be used directly by train drivers via a dedicated app.
Koleje Śląskie won the award in the Human Factors category for the project ‘Evacuation Cards for Railway Vehicles’, which was organised in 2024 as part of the 8th edition of the Safety Culture Competition. This project, which is innovative among railway operators, was developed jointly with the National Fire Service. The evacuation cards are intended to provide support and serve as an additional tool for to ensure more effective and efficient rescue operations in the event of a train evacuation. The idea for the cards came during an exercise organised in 2021, which explored a train fire in a tunnel scenario. In addition to the creation of the cards, the project also featured a series of training courses for some 200 firefighters from district fire brigades in the voivodeship. The training courses covered the elements presented in the cards, their practical use, issues relevant to the rescue operation (including cooperation with the infrastructure manager), as well as the principles for the safe crossing of level crossings by emergency vehicles. A set of cards was also provided to each of the Fire Brigade headquarters for training purposes.
