The latest amendment of Directive 68 of 1997 (NRMM) related to measures against the emission of pollutants from internal combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery was made through the European Commission’s Regulation 596/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 18, 2009. This is of course applicable to all Member States, as well as to all types of engines used in railway traction.
The Directive aims at levelling the legislation of Member States regarding the emission standards and the approval procedures necessary for engines to be installed on non-road mobile machinery. This contributes to a normal operation of the internal market, at the same time protecting the people’s health and the environment.
Among many other non-road mobile machineries, the present Directive also refers to engines designed for the propulsion of multiple-units which are self-propelled rail vehicles, especially designed for freight and/or passenger transport or engines designed for the propulsion of locomotives, which are self-propelled elements of rail equipments designed for moving or propelling cargo wagons, passenger coaches or other equipments, but are not designed to transport goods, passengers (other than locomotive drivers) or other equipments by themselves. Any secondary engine or designed to supply the equipments for rail maintenance or servicing is not subject to these provisions. Type approval application for an engine or a class of engines is submitted by the constructor to the approval authority of a Member State. The application must be accompanied by an informative file, shows the Directive. The Member State which receives the application must release the type approval for all types or classes of engines which are in conformity with the data included in the informative file and which meet the demands of the present Directive.
Envisaged changes proposed by the railway industry
In March, UNIFE came up with several recommendations for the long-awaited amendment of the Directive in force and its regulations. The suggestions submitted by rail industry manufacturers are points of view regarding the best methods of approaching specific dispositions in the future overall revision of NRMM Directive to reach an increased stability on rail markets and the best results possible in what concerns environment protection issues.
Time interval between two emission stages should last, at least, seven years, to enable an apprehended technical balance. A flexibility scheme of three years should be extended to rail applications to account for the project-based business cycle of the industry, it should be based on what is currently discussed in terms of flexibility for rail, UNIFE representatives believes.
The existing categories for multiple-units and locomotives should remain unchanged. However, rail manufacturers are neutral to the topic of test cycles. They will apply the legislation as lined out in the revised directive. The revision of the directive scheduled for 2010 should not include a new emission stage for rail, UNIFE members, rail industry manufacturers, believe. Future emission stages should be evaluated carefully and should take into account the need to control fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of the vehicles. UNIFE recommendations refer to the overall revision of the directive only and not future partial revision concerning flexibility. Many of the current problems of the profile industry concerning the applicability of the stage IIIB of NRMM Directive (on the approval according to the type of diesel engines) are generated by the fact that the time period between stage IIIA and stage IIIB was of only three years for this niche market. In fact, adjacent railway requirements, such as the TSIs of Directive 57/2008 on railway interoperability stipulate a stability period of seven years for rolling stock specifications. The TSIs should be a landmark for upcoming revisions of the NRMM Directive when it comes for application deadlines. It is important that the revised NRMM Directive would take into consideration the fact that a certain period of time is necessary to the design and assembly of the engine and all its components and to the development of their reliability. By the time an engine is available on the market, it will not yet be integrated into the vehicle. The directive’s exclusive focus on engines is therefore at the root of many concerns for rail diesel vehicle manufacturers, UNIFE representatives point out.
by Elena Ilie
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