Authorisations of railway vehicles in Member States are based on the Technical Specifications for Interoperability and national technical rules. Both complement each other, for example, for European transport networks the national technical rules apply in specific cases and open points, for transport networks outside European ones, more and more Member States substitute the national technical rules by requirements defined by the Technical Specifications for Interoperability. In case it is correctly applied, this procedure simplifies the rolling stock cross-acceptance process.
There is a limited mutual recognition of vehicles authorisation for place in service at the European Union level, but this is counterbalanced by a very high motivation from the sector to have a harmonised implementation of the future legislation in Europe in order to facilitate the mutual recognition of the authorisation for place in service of vehicles.
Therefore, we can say that the majority of problems that appear during the cross-acceptance process are not caused as much by rolling stock but by legislation, more precisely by the fact that the European legislation in the area is not completely transposed into the national legislation. Problems in the process of cross-acceptance of rolling stock can appear if member states choose to demand an additional authorization of a vehicle already authorized in other member state. In his case, additional authorization for a vehicle can be demanded only in what concerns the technical compatibility of the specific network. And, the technical compatibility vehicle – network can be ensured by the conformity of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability with the national rules. These data once correlated, the additional authorization is already a process which weighs the well-development of traffic, additional costs and bureaucracy.
“If the rolling stock leased is capable of cross-acceptance, which is likely, then it will save operators from seeking approvals in several member states; leasing generally allows operators to avoid the capital cost of new equipment and might allow them to obtain short term hire periods. Of course, competing with incumbents who own rolling stock long since written off may be difficult” told us Lord Tony Berkeley, president of European Rail Freight Association (ERFA).
The railway sector demands less bureaucracy
During the first seminar dedicated to the cross-acceptance of rolling stock held in Lille in November 2010, CER supported the railway sector saying that “the findings from the applicable legal base show that mutual recognition is widely established for road, air and maritime but is in its infancy for rail at EU level”.
Present at the seminar, the National Authority for Railway Safety in France (EPSF) said it had concluded agreements on mutual recognition of rolling stock, both for conventional and high-speed lines, with Germany in 2004, and then gradually with adjacent countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. Consequently, the mutual recognition of rolling stock by the countries mentioned above favours a better understanding of the technical norms in each of the countries involved, as well as the reasons for which these norms have been implemented, reduces the time spent in checking the authorization files, both by the applicant and by the National Safety Authorities, but the most important fact is that mutual recognition of rolling stock maintains the safety level and interoperability. During the seminar held in Lille, Alpha Trains, one of the most important railway leasing companies in Europe (Angel Trains until January 2010), has criticised the fact that the authorization of railway vehicles is a procedure which makes the mutual recognition of rolling stock more difficult, and implicitly cross-border traffic. Alpha Trains demands infrastructure managers to impose less requirements in what concerns the place into service of new trains.
“Much of the existing rolling stock on South and Eastern Europe is old and may need replacing. Financing for operators there may also be difficult, so for new flows particularly those connecting with western countries leasing may be an important means of providing the resources necessary for new flows”, explained Lord Berkeley. However, the latest signals the market sends are meant to increase the confidence of manufacturers, transport operators and rolling stock leasing companies in the pursuit of the cross-acceptance simplification. According to the estimates of the European Railway Agency (ERA), there has been an increase in the number of vehicles authorised for placing in service over the period 2004 – Q2 2009. With the help of sector organisations (Community of European Railways (CER) and Union of European Railway Industries (UNIFE)), the ERA has been able to project forward these data to 2016. Over the period of 2010 to 2016 an overall increase of 1.2% per year is expected.
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