There is a notable lack of agreement regarding the safety approaches adopted by different transportation modes, while the sudden increased demands for security for both freight and passengers has provided a more uniform methodological approach.

Each transport mode has, over time, developed its own safety rules.  The unprecedented and apparently irreversible growth of terrorist activities has affected all transport systems.  It is virtually impossible to think of new infrastructure projects without taking these parameters into consideration. (This led to the EU Commission recent approval of the European Directive 2008/114/EC “on the identification and designation of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection.”)

Measures to be taken relating to security are dependent on the users, and if properly handled may help reduce global transport costs and increase the efficiency of the operators.  Competing networks can provide information about freight and passenger movements leading to the optimisation of the entire supply chain. 

This volume collects the most significant papers that various authors have submitted in conferences organised by the Wessex institute of Technology on safety and security in order to present the state of the art of research in these areas.