Standards Committees

Standards Committees have been established by the RSSB in accordance with the Railway Group Standards Code (the Code). The purpose of the Standards Committees, as set out in the Code, is reproduced below.

Purpose of Standards Committees

Direct, prioritise and approve the creation of RGSs and the development, amendment and withdrawal of measures in RGSs and deviations from measures in RGSs

Identify and propose additions or improvements to measures defined in new or existing RGSs, or the withdrawal of measures from existing RGSs

Identify and propose improvements to the procedures defined in the Code and Standards Manual for managing the creation, modification or withdrawal of RGSs

Monitor and review the Technical Specifications for Interoperability and other European standards in order to identify any necessary amendments to measures in RGSs

Direct, prioritise and approve resources provided by RSSB to support GB industry input to European standards activities

Provide a forum where representatives of the GB industry can exchange information and views to inform their contributions, through the European sector organisations, in respect of European standards activities

Inform ISCC about issues which could have significant implications for the mainline railway, including where an application for a specific case in a Technical Specification for Interoperability may be required

Approve the list of measures to be proposed to ISCC as:

• National technical rules in response to European Directives concerned with the interoperability of the European railways, or
• National safety rules in response to European Directives concerned with the safety of the European railways, and

Direct, prioritise and approve the development of proposed GB specific cases and the associated economic evaluation prior to them being proposed to ISCC for potential inclusion in a Technical Specification for Interoperability.

List of Standards Committees

• Infrastructure (INS)
• Rolling Stock (RST)
• Traffic Operation and Management (TOM)
• Control Command and Signalling(CCS)
• Energy (ENE)
• Plant (PLT)

Each of the Committees has a technical scope that is co-terminus with the TSI of the same name.

Multi-functional Standards Committees may be set up to deal with RGSs that do not have a clear lead. In all cases these will be supported by a lead Delivery Unit within RSSB.

Guiding principles for Standards Committees

The industry agreed Strategy for Standards Management established a series of guiding principles for the industry’s work on standards, including that of the Standards Committees. These guiding principles, reproduced below, informed the development of the governance arrangements contained in issue three of the Code:

• A co-ordinated approach to European standards.
• Consistency with Technical Specifications for Interoperability.
• The future of the GB railway (and railway industry) with due regard to safety, performance and efficiency.
• Optimum economic solutions for the whole industry.
• A consistent and co-ordinated GB approach to standards.
• The reduction of risk to passengers, employees and the affected public so far as is reasonably practicable.
• Consideration of the impact on all classes of stakeholders likely to be materially affected.

The activities of the Standards Committees are overseen by the Industry Standards Co-ordination Committee(ISCC).

Click on the below links for further information on Standards Committees:

	List of Standards Committee members
	Standards Committee meeting dates and associated cut-off dates Dates for 2009
	Results of elections to Standards Committees
	Standards Committees – record of decisions Control Command & Signalling no data available Energy no data available Infrastructure 12 November 2008 06 January 2009 Plant 12 February 2009 Rolling Stock 3 October 2008 31 October 2008 28 November 2008 30 January 2009 27 February 2009 2-3 April 2009 Traffic Operation & Management 14 October 2008 11 November 2008 09 December 2008 03 February 2009 03 March 2009 28 April 2009 31 March 2009 Multifunctional no data available

For more information on the Standards Committees please contact Adam Milligan on 020 3142 5560