Facilitating the authorization procedure for placing in service of railway vehicles

In March, 2011, the European Commission adopted the Decision on the publishing and management of the reference document regarding the classification of national norms referring to the release of the additional authorizations for placing in service of non-TSI (Technical Specifications for Interoperability) vehicles. Technically speaking, these are the provisions included in Article 27 paragraph (4) of Directive 2008/57/EC on the interoperability of the railway system in the Community.

Therefore, according to the reference document, facilitating the placing in service of vehicles is made by counting the parameters to be checked, identifying all rules implemented by member states, placing in correspondence the rule with one of the parameters, classifying them on groups A, B and C and presenting the national legal framework.
The recommendation for the reference document will be made to the European Railway Agency with connection to all national laws implemented for placing in service of railway vehicles. The implementation area of the reference document takes into consideration all the authorizations for placing in service of railway vehicles when conformity with national laws is required. It is also focused on the vehicles expected to run on the TEN and non-TEN network.
For TSI-compliant vehicles, it permits the comparison and mutual acceptance referring to a certain parameter, while for non-TSI compliant vehicles it permits the comparison and mutual acceptance between national laws referring to the list of parameters to check.
Under the Decision adopted by the Commission in March, the European Railway Agency (ERA) publishes and maintains the reference document. The free access to the informations in the reference document is ensured using the agency’s website, consequently, the first version of the reference document is available starting with August, 2011.
In the first year since the publication of the pertinent national reference document, member states will ensure the coherence of the requirements in the reference document and the requirements in the laws included in Directive 57/2008 on Interoperability.
“Once a single data chart is available for notifying national norms and for the reference document, the deadline for ensuring the coherence between them will be of six months. The Commission will communicate to member states the deadline until which the single data chart for notifying national norms is available.
After this period, the agency has to notify the member state in case any incoherence is noticed. If a law in the reference document is not yet notified, the respective law has to be amended and the reference document has to be updated”, stipulates the present Decision of the Commission.
The White Paper considers important the implementation of a single authorization for every type of vehicle and of a single safety certification for railway undertakings for consolidating ERA’s role.

[ by Elena Ilie ]
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