Technical standards for components of the rail system

In order to be placed in the European Union (EU) market components of the rail system must meet the essential requirements laid down by Directive 96/48/EC (OJ L-235 17/09/1996) on the interoperability of the Trans-European high speed rail system or Directive 2001/16/EC (OJ L-110 20/04/2001) on the interoperability of the Trans-European conventional rail system.

Product Scope
Provisions laid down in Directive 96/48/EC (OJ L-235 17/09/1996) apply to the products destined to be integrated in the European high speed rail system as it is defined in Annex I. The system comprises trains conceived to operate at speeds of the order of 200 Km/h and the railway infrastructures to be operated at high speeds (i.e. new built lines equipped for speeds of at least 250 Km/h and upgraded existing lines equipped for speeds of the order of 200Km/h). Provisions laid down in Directive 2001/16/EC (OJ L-110 20/04/2001) apply to the products to be incorporated in the European conventional rail system as it is defined in Annex I. The system comprises the lines, fixed installations and the rolling stock (including mobile railway infrastructure and construction and maintenance equipment) designated to travel or be installed on the conventional infrastructure. Both rail systems are divided into five structural subsystems (i.e. infrastructures, traffic operation and management, energy, rolling stock, and control command and signalling) and two operational subsystems (i.e. maintenance and telematics applications for passenger and freight services) which are laid down in Annex II of the respective directives ( conventional / high speed).

Essential requirements
The essential requirements to be met are laid down in Annex III of each Directive (conventional / high speed). Essential requirements on safety, health, reliability, environmental protection and technical compatibility are set up globally for each rail system and specifically for each of the subsystems.

Technical specifications for interoperability (TSI)

TSIs are the specifications establishing the means by which each subsystem or parts of them must meet the essential requirements.TSIs define as well the smallest units of a subsystem for which conformity may need to be assesed, refered to as interoperability constituents. TSIs are established for the whole European Union and published in the form of Decisions in the Official Journal of the European Communities. TSIs do not cover still all subsystems, new TSIs will be gradually added with the objective of covering all subsystems for both the conventional and the high speed rail networks. In the absence of TSIs or when these are incomplete, European Harmonised Standards may apply. Harmonised standards are technical specifications that would enable to meet the essential requirements. Products manufactured according to these harmonised standards benefit from a presumption of compliance with the essential requirements. When neither TSIs or European Harmonised Standards exist or are incomplete, national rules may be used to determine compliance with the essential requirements. These National Rules are notified by each Member State to the European Commission.

Latest TSIs for the high speed rail system are established by Decision 2002/731/EC (OJ L245 12/09/2002). For the Conventional rail system, Decisions 2006/679/EC and 2006/66/EC (OJ L-37 08/02/2006) established the TSIs for control command and signalling and for the telematic applications subsystems respectively. Harmonised standards are developed by the European Standardisation bodies: The European Committee for standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical standardisation (CENELEC) and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. A list with harmonised standards for the high speed rail system is available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/newapproach/standardization/harmstds/reflist/hisp rail.htm

Conformity assessment
The conformity assessment process is required to certify that products comply with the essential requirements laid down in the applicable Directive. The procedure differs for subsystems and interoperability constituents: 1) Subsystems: EC verification procedure The EC verifications procedure is the process by which a notified body verifies the conformity of a subsystem with the provisions of the applicable legislation, and thus it can be put into service. Notified Bodies are organisations designated by each member State and notified to the Commission and the other member States, that are in charge of assessing manufacturers conformity to the essential requirements when a third party is required. Manufacturers or EU authorised representatives shall apply to a notified body to start the procedure and once it is concluded draw up a EC declaration of verification which shall include the following: the Directive references, name and address of the contracting entity or his authorised representative, brief description of the subsystem, name and address of the notified body involved in the inspection process, references of the documents contained in the technical file, any operating restrictions or conditions, duration of validity of the EC declaration in case it is temporary and the identity of signatory. The EC declaration must be accompanied by a technical file which shall include the information contained in Annex VI of the applicable Directive ( conventional / high speed). 2) Interoperability constituents: EC declaration of conformity The EC declaration of conformity is required to symbolise the conformity of interoperability constituents with the relevant essential requirements. The specific assessment procedures to be followed by notified bodies are established in the relevant TSIs. Once the notified body has conducted the applicable conformity assessment procedure, the manufacturer or his authorised representative in the EU must draw up a EC declaration of conformity which shall include: the Directive references, name and address of the manufacturer or his authorised representative, description of interoperability constituents (make, type etc), description of the procedure followed in the conformity assessment procedure, name and address of the notified body involved in the procedure, conditions of use and reference to the relevant standards.

Legislation

Directive 1996/48/EC on the interoperability of the Trans-European high speed rail system Directive 2001/16/EC on the interoperability of the Trans-European conventional rail system Council Decision 2004/447/EC modifying Annex A to Decision 2002/731/EC of 30 May 2002 and establishing the main characteristics of Class A system (ERTMS) of the control-command and signalling subsystem of the trans-European conventional rail system referred to in Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L-155 30/04/2004) Council Decision 2006/66/EC concerning the technical specification for interoperability to the subsystem rolling stock-noise of the trans-European convetional rail system (OJ L-37 08/02/2006) Council Decision 2006/679/EC concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the control-command and and signalling subsystem of the trans-European conventional rail system (OJ L-284 16/10/2006)

Other information sources

European Commission - DG Enterprise and Industry: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/rail_guided_transport/rail.htm