In April, the European Railway Agency (ERA) published the first part of an major report on the authorisation of railway vehicles. The report describes the current situation referring to the authorisation of the railway vehicles running on the European network.
Based on forecasts derived from work carried out by Union of European Railway Industries (UNIFE) with the Boston Consulting Group and discussions with major railway undertakings we conclude that there is a generally rising trend in the number of authorisations, with a pause taking place at the moment as a result of the recession. Before the recession resources for authorisation in the National Safety Authorities were tightly stretched and following cutbacks in government departments resources are likely to be further stretched during the recovery and beyond. National Safety Authorities and Ministries therefore have a keen interest in simplification of the procedure and the elimination of duplicate checks by mutual recognition of rolling stock.
The Agency surveys revealed that there had been a slight increase in the number of vehicles granted authorisation over the period 2004 – Q2 of 2009. Over the period 2010 to 2022 an increase over current levels of 10,8% in new vehicles granted authorisation is expected, based on the actual 2007 to 2009 figures. The number of vehicles built per type is very low with an average figure of 44.
The interfaces within the procedure are complex and different in each Member State . There is a very clear finding that the procedures, roles and responsibilities differ for a variety of reasons including checking bodies (notified bodies, designated bodies) having limited or multiple roles, and different national legal frameworks for the procedure for authorising the placing in service of vehicles.
The comparison with other transport modes shows that even if the legislation, actors and procedures differ, the principle of mutual recognition of approved types, certifications, checking bodies is widely established for air, road and maritime (within EU and internationally) but is in its infancy for rail at European level.
The networks of Europe have, in the past, been built to different specifications. These differences cannot be quickly or cost effectively engineered away. Furthermore most of the Member States have not yet put in place and published the Technical Rules describing the characteristics to which their network must be maintained. This makes it difficult at authorisation to verify compatibility between vehicles and their network.
by Elena Ilie
Share on:
