Introduction
The European Commission introduced the Railway Safety Directive ( Directive 2004/49/EC – on the safety of the Community’s railways and amending Directive 95/18/EC) as part of the Second Railway Package in April 2004. Fundamentally the introduction of this Directive reflects the Commission’s understanding that progress with interoperability and the development of an open market was being hampered due to the varying approaches to safety management and standards throughout the EU; effectively creating a ‘virtuous barrier’ to market development. The Directive’s main goal therefore is to establish a framework that will harmonise and clarify the various requirements, methodologies and responsibilities for safety throughout the EU.
Directive 2004/49/EC has been amended by Directive 2008/57/EC and Directive 2008/110/EC. Directive 2008/57/EC repeals Article 14 on 'Placing in service of in-use rolling stock'. Directive 2008/110/EC makes a number of miscellaneous amendments and introduces a new Article 14a on 'Maintenance of vehicles'.
Key requirements of the Safety Directive
The Safety Directive specifically requires:
1. That railway companies are responsible for the safety of their part of the
railway system.
2. The European Rail Agency (ERA), to harmonise safety standards and
requirements through the development of:
- Common Safety Targets (CSTs) for the railway system. These are minimum safety levels for different parts of the system and will be expressed in terms of risk acceptance criteria.
3. That member states support the above harmonisation work through the
collection of data on common safety indicators (CSIs) to monitor the
development of railway safety in the member states. Railway undertakings
(RUs) and infrastructure managers (IMs) are required to submit annual
reports to the national safety authority (NSA), which in turn submits an
annual report to the ERA.
4. RUs to hold two-part safety certificates. Part ‘A’ is certification confirming
the acceptance of the safety management system (SMS) and is issued by
the member state in which the RU is based – this part is valid throughout all
the Member States of the EU. Part ‘B’ is certification confirming the
acceptance of the provisions adopted by the RU to meet the requirements
necessary for safe operation over the relevant network and is issued by the
member state in which the RU plans to operate.
5. IMs to hold a safety authorisation issued by the member state where the IM
is established. This will also comprise of two parts: acceptance of the SMS
and acceptance of the provisions to meet the requirements necessary for
the safe design, maintenance and operation of the infrastructure including
the traffic control and signalling system.
6. Member states to notify all relevant national safety rules to the ERA.
7. Member states to establish national safety authorities (NSAs),
independent of RUs and IMs, that will be responsible for the regulation and
supervision of safety, with specific tasks in relation to:
- Bringing into service of railway projects
- Issue and amendment of safety certificates
- The adoption of national safety rules
- Ensuring interoperable constituents are in compliance with the essential requirements set out in the TSIs
- Supervising the registration of rolling stock and maintaining the national register.
8. Member states to establish independent national accident
investigation bodies.
Implementation by GB
The Safety Directive is mandated on member states. The relevant national bodies mentioned in the Safety Directive are for UK:
Both bodies were established by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003.
The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006, Rail Accident Investigation Regulations and Railway Safety Critical Work Regulations reflect the requirements of the Directive and the responsibilities of IMs, RUs and member states.
If you require further information on the Railway Safety Directive or the European Rail Agency, please contact Graham Arkwright
For information about European developments relating to interoperability and standards see the Europe – Standards and Interoperability webpages.