The Rule Book and other national operations publications

The Modular Rule Book

Until 1996 there was a single Rule Book which applied to all. This meant that certain grades possessed a publication of only a small part was applicable to the tasks they carried out. In an effort to resolve this, the personalised Rule Book was developed which consisted of 13 separate publications for generic groups of staff such as driver, signaller, passenger guard, person in charge of train operations, etc.

The rail industry had changed considerably in the few years after the personalised Rule Book was issued, mainly due to privatisation and the greater flexibility of roles within the newly formed companies. This resulted in some jobs requiring an individual to be issued with more than one personalised Rule Book to cover all the activities applicable to their work.

This was resolved by the introduction of the Modular Rule Book where employers could select from a suite of modules the particular task instructions applicable to the role of their staff. There are 50 modules containing task based instructions and a module specifically to publish small amounts of changes to the Rule Book that do not justify the reissue of the module concerned.

Changes to modules

There may be a need to amend the rules from time to time because of changes in legislation, the introduction of new technology or improvements in ways to reduce the risks associated with the operation of the railway etc. Proposals to change national operations publications, and any other Railway Group Standard, are usually suggested by industry stakeholders. Changes to national operations publications are issued in 3 ways, as extracts through GE/RT8001, Changes to national operating publications, GE/RT8000/AM, Amendments module or by reissuing the particular module. Rules changes are published twice a year with the amendments coming into force in the first Saturday of either June or December. Updates on Rule Book changes are contained in the news section.

Click on the module icon for a download of the description of each Rule Book module, operational forms and associated documents

Click on the module icon for a matrix containing guidance on the what modules are likely to be applicable to typical roles within the railway industry