Scientific paper ID 787 : 2013/3

The railway transport is an open part of the transport system, which is a subject of many external and internal risks of various types and origins (technical, organisational, human, natural, and etc.). The type of the risks is often a factor, which plays an important role in the decision how to assess the risk and in our evaluation on whether it is acceptable for us. On the other hand side, the historical development of the railway transport is also an important factor, which contributes for the variety of the practices with regards to the management and the evaluation of risks. This is why, the role of internationally accepted laws and standards, which ments towards the assessment and the acceptance of the risk, is very important for the railway transport. Such documents are for example the family of international standards EN50126, EN50128, EN50129, the European Regulation 352/2009/EC, as well as other international standards and documents. This article aims to present a short overview of the present practices within the railway transport with regards to the criteria for risk acceptance. Presently, at an international level, many of the aspects, related to these criteria do not yet have a solution. From the point of view of the author, this article has the aim to present an objective overview, which would contribute to the discussions and provoke further conversations, analyses and research on the above subject.