Abstract
This article examines methodological approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of a railway carrier’s traffic safety management system. It justifies the use of an economic approach based on comparing safety costs with losses resulting from traffic safety violations. The analysis of existing international methods for assessing safety levels has revealed limitations in terms of evaluating the managerial effectiveness of an event. An adaptation of the Prevention–Appraisal–Defects model is proposed as a methodological framework, allowing for the structuring of costs related to prevention, control, and the consequences of technical failures, as well as the determination of the optimal level of preventive investments. An algorithm for calculating the economic efficiency of measures to improve traffic safety has been developed. The practical applicability of the methodology is demonstrated using the example of a railway carrier, which confirms the possibility of using the Prevention–Appraisal–Defects model as a tool for economic assessment and strategic traffic safety management.