We glimpse a new stage after a long period of pandemic that we are beginning to overcome thanks to the effort, resilience and exemplary behaviour that we have shown as a society, expressing our special thanks to all those who form part of Ineco.

In this context of a gradual return to normality, we are continuing our roadmap with the aim of making an effective contribution to improving people’s quality of life. Against this background, in this new edition we take an in-depth look at four recent works carried out in our country that are firmly committed to making further progress towards this goal. The new maritime station of Ceuta, designed by our architectural and engineering teams, is an efficient technical and architectural solution that significantly improves the comfort and functionality of the building, organises traffic flows and reinforces its security. This is clearly a major benefit for the more than two million people who use these facilities every year.

In the aerospace field, we learn about the main developments at ENAIRE from its General Director, Ángel Luis Arias, who provides us with highly relevant information on the company’s new strategy, in which social, environmental, safety and technological aspects are becoming increasingly important.

We glimpse a new stage after a long period of pandemic that we are beginning to overcome thanks to the effort, resilience and exemplary behaviour that we have shown as a society

From a transport and land mobility perspective, Josep Vicent Boira, Government Commissioner for the Mediterranean Corridor, provides interesting data on the development of the Cartographic Viewer of the Mediterranean Corridor, a cutting-edge tool that is extremely useful for monitoring the progress of this infrastructure, a key connection with Europe. We also report on the work to adapt the tunnels of the Directorate-General for Roads of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda to European regulations.

On the international front, we focus on Africa, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. Aeronautical solutions on two Cape Verde islands, field work for our client Rail Baltica in Latvia, the latest studies carried out for Aerocivil de Colombia at El Dorado airport, as well as the ongoing railway signalling work in Australia, highlight the important role played by Ineco equipment throughout the world.

The commitment to Spanish engineering talent, through the promotion and transmission of knowledge provided by the company’s training programmes; the promotion of social and innovative action with tools such as the TEAcompaño  mobile application –which improves accessibility to air transport for children with ASD– and the commitment to environmental sustainability, led by our team specialising in noise pollution, round up the contents of this edition, which we share with all our readers.

How can we ensure that a taximeter is reliable or that a nuclear facility is safe, that a bulletproof vest is really bulletproof or that the MOT that reviews a vehicle does not act arbitrarily? In Spain, more than 1,600 entities ensure that many products, procedures and services available in the market comply with the regulations of their respective sector. A Spanish government body, the National Accreditation Entity (ENAC), is responsible for authorising who guarantees the safety of consumers and end users. Entities must renew their accreditation every year, demonstrating that they comply with the strict requirements of independence, rigour and transparency that are required for this work.

Rail lines

The wide range of products and services subject to receiving a certification endorsed by an ENAC entity covers any type of production and different types of entities, such as testing or calibration laboratories, inspectors, or certifiers and environmental verifiers from practically any sector: industry, energy, environment, health, agriculture and food, research, development and innovation, telecommunications, tourism, services, construction, transport, etc.

The inspection activity of Ineco falls within the latter, specifically within railway, and in 2009 it obtained its first ENAC accreditation as an ‘independent safety assessor’ with the number 76/EI058. In 2015, it was renewed and extended to the fields of rolling stock, energy, infrastructure, maintenance and exploitation and traffic management. The company has a multidisciplinary team consisting of professionals accredited by ENAC. The work of the entities certified by ENAC, moreover, is not only valid in Spain, but also in the over 70 countries with which it has mutual recognition agreements, including the European Union, United States, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India, United Arab Emirates and Mexico, amongst others.

Why an independent safety assessment?

In addition to rolling stock, since the beginning of rail at the end of the 19th century, the main rail elements related to safety have been signalling systems, in order to avoid the greatest risk of all: collisions between trains. From manual signals to lights, to digital systems and radio without physical signals on the tracks –as is the case for ERTMS level 2–, the different control, command and signalling systems (ASFA, LZB, ERTMS, etc.) have evolved to become more complex and sophisticated, always with the objective of guaranteeing the safe circulation of trains.

The current rail lines –conventional and high speed–, are very complex infrastructure that consist of a large number of elements and undergo very extensive legal and technical regulation that requires a high degree of specialisation by the inspectors. From the time they are planned until they are commissioned, European and international regulations require verification that each and every one of the elements and subsystems work correctly, from the simplest, such as the ventilation of a tunnel, to the most complex, such as software.

For this purpose, two types of safety study are carried out. On one hand, risk analyses, in which threats are identified that could bring the system to a potentially dangerous situation and work is being carried out on mitigation measures or barriers to avoid them. They can be carried out in any stage of the project and seek to detect the weak points of the system. Moreover, and on a higher level, there is the type of study known as ISA (Independent Safety Assessment). Unlike risk analyses, ISA can only be carried out by an accredited entity. They are essential to guarantee for a third party –the operator or rail authority– that a new line or modification of an existing line is safe and can begin or continue to be used.