Conformity assessment

Under National and European legislation no one is allowed to operate a railway or manage railway infrastructure in the State unless they have obtained the appropriate safety certificate or authorisation from the CRR as the National Safety Authority.

Those operating a railway require a certificate, and those who operate infrastructure require an authorisation.

Since October 2020 and the introduction of the new Fourth Railway Package Directives the SMS conformity assessment process can be carried out by either ERA or the CRR for the issuing of safety certificates. Either ERA or the CRR can carry out the assessment at the request of the applicant where the operation is limited to a single member state. Where a railway undertaking operates across member states the assessment must be done by ERA. The assessment is carried out in compliance with the Railway Safety Directive EU 2016/798 as transposed by SI476 2020. The specific criteria for assessing conformity under this Directive are detailed in EU Regulation 2018/762 for safety certification and authorisation. For safety authorisations the CRR carries out the assessment.

For light rail the assessment process for a railway organisation’s safety management certificate assessment is in compliance with the Railway Safety Act 2005,

There are two main railway systems in the State, the heavy railway system and the light railway system.  The CRR uses the same process for issuing safety certificates/authorisations for both heavy and light railway systems.  The CRR has published guidance for applicants, see CRR-G-030 which can be seen in the published guidance section of our website.