Safety validation of dependable transportation systems

New safety-related systems and increased communication capabilities will influence all transportation systems. The hazards with the new control systems have to be understood, and the design complexity has to be managed. Safety validation is performed to show the dependability of these new systems. Among the challenges at validation are risk analysis, safety requirements, system complexity and component-based systems. This paper presents three practical examples of difficulties experienced, and explains some conclusions for validation of dependable components and systems. Solutions from a research project for dependable components and systems (DECOS) are drafted. Validation of safety-related systems built from validated components is a key issue.