Trespass Awareness Day (TRESPAD) and International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) are two global safety campaigns led by UIC, united by a common goal: to improve safety, save lives, and raise awareness of the risks associated with rail trespass and level crossings. These initiatives bring together countries from around the world in a shared mission.

Together, we reaffirm our commitment to creating a safer rail environment for all — through collaboration, innovation, and education.

The theme of both the ILCAD and TRESPAD launch conferences was “Helping people make good decisions” with the slogan “Safe decisions – every time”.

The events welcomed 200 delegates from 22 countries, including Argentina, Canada, Japan, the USA, and many European nations. Attendees included railway and road safety professionals, insurance representatives, academics, journalists, and 11 rail safety equipment manufacturers mainly from Europe.

4 June 2025 marked the official opening of the 4th edition of TRESPAD, followed by the 17th edition of ILCAD on 5 June 2025. Both conferences were jointly organised by UIC, Network Rail, and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and hosted at the prestigious National Railway Museum in York.

TRESPAD - 4 June

TRESPAD was opened by Martin Frobisher, Network Rail Safety and Engineering Director; Chris Knowles, RSSB Director of System Safety and Health; Charlotte Kingston, Head of Public Programmes and Communications at the National Railway Museum; Dr Ann Mills, Deputy Director System Safety & Health at RSSB, Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network and Vice Chair of the UIC Safety Platform; and Isabelle Fonverne, Senior Safety Advisor at UIC.

UIC would like to extend its thanks to the speakers from across Europe and the United States who addressed critical issues related to railway trespassing and suicides. They shared high-level research findings, presented technological solutions, and discussed awareness, education and enforcement initiatives aimed at preventing incidents and saving lives on the railway network, thereby reducing delays for passengers.

• Dr Laura Joyner, Middlesex University, and Dr Bethany Cliffe, University of Westminster, both presented research on the use of smart surveillance technologies to detect and prevent suicides.
• Louise McNally, Suicide and Trespass Prevention Lead, Network Rail, shared insights into their suicide and trespass management framework.
• Adam Swallow, Chief Inspector at the British Transport Police, discussed the use of drones to help deal with safety and security issues on the network, keep people safe, reduce delays for passengers, and tackle crime.
• Kurt Topel, Rail Safety Researcher in the USA, examined the impact of local media coverage on rail death clusters.
• Nils La Cour, Senior Safety Advisor at the Danish State Railways (DSB), presented results from a project using AI to detect individuals on railway tracks.
• Danijela Baric, Professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, shared data on trespassing and suicides in Croatia.
• Katy Baker, Account Director at Storycatchers, and Donna Mitchell, Senior Media Campaigns Manager at Network Rail, shared information about safety campaign strategies to reduce trespassing in the UK.
• Catherine Gillard, Communications Project Manager, and Gaëtan Van Overmeiren, Team Lead Operational Safety, both at INFRABEL, spoke about innovations in awareness measures for railway trespassing.
• Finally, Stuart Heaton, Managing Director of Learn Live Ltd, introduced their Rail Safe Friendly programme, which educates pupils and students in British schools about track-related risks.

ILCAD - 5 June
The event was opened by Allan Spence, Chair of the UIC Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN), and Fonverne, in her role as UIC ILCAD/TRESPAD Project Manager.

• Richard Bye, Head of Ergonomics and Human Factors, Network Rail, and Elise Grison, Project Manager in Human Cognition, SNCF, spoke individually about human behaviour and cognition. Grison also presented findings from a project using cognitive sciences and engineering.
• José Tome, Coordinator for Risk Reduction at Level Crossings at Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), shared the company’s strategic plan to reduce accidents and casualties at level crossings by 2030.
• Greg Morse, Operational Feedback Lead at RSSB, discussed the lessons learned from past accidents at level crossings.
• Starr Kidda, Human Factors Division Chief, and Francesco Bedini Jacobini, Programme Manager at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), shared insights from specific research projects, lidar technology for risk assessment, and information regarding the US emergency contact numbers at level crossings.
• Daniel Fisk, Public and Passenger Health and Safety Manager, and Neil Huston, Level Crossing Manager at Network Rail, outlined the UK’s approach to risk management and assessment at crossings.
• Andrea Biava and Francesco Centola, Monitoring and Event Analysis Office, Directorate-General for Railway Safety (ANSFISA) reported on national crossing inspection campaigns and rail-road collaboration in Italy.
• Craig McLaughlin and Phil Strickland, Royal & SunAlliance (RSA) Ltd, explained how insurers work with the railways on the relevant risks in Great Britain.
• A standout session on strategies for public engagement and awareness at level crossings featured Rachel Maleh and Wende Corcoran from Operation Lifesaver inc., with Annelies De Keyser and Vincent Godeau from INFRABEL highlighting their emergency number campaign and new outreach in Belgian ports.
  Tamo Vahemets, CEO of Operation Lifesaver Estonia, then shared insights on impactful public safety campaigns in Estonia.

We are deeply grateful for the generous support of our sponsors, who showcased their products at the museum: Innovative Driving Solutions from Italy; Schweizer Electronic from Switzerland; Wavetrain from Norway; Kite Projects, Capgemini, Arentis, Hirsch, Alstom Group from France; Gmundener Fertigteile-Bodan from Austria; Altpro from Croatia, and Zöllner GmbH from Germany.

A special highlight came in the opportunity to talk with the British Scouts
and the Samaritans, both of whom had stands at the event. They work closely with Network Rail to deliver vital rail safety messaging to the public in Great Britain.

On 6 June, technical visits took place, which included a level crossing equipped with the latest intrusion detection system (IDS) in operation. Another visit was made to a private user-worked crossing, equipped with a warning light system and powered access gate to meet the needs of the various users and manage risk effectively.

TRESPAD and ILCAD 2026 will take place on 3 and 4 June, with technical visits on 5 June. The location of the launch conferences is yet to be confirmed.