Authorisation to Place in Service

Authorisation of Heavy Rail Fixed Installations and Vehicles – Interoperability Directive

Interoperability is a European Commission initiative which aims to establish optimal levels of technical harmonisation, to make it possible to facilitate, improve and develop rail transport services within the Union and with third countries.

As defined in the Interoperability Directive ‘interoperability means the ability of a rail system to allow the safe and uninterrupted movement of trains which accomplish the required levels of performance’.  The Interoperability Directive lays down provisions relating to constituents and interfaces and the conditions of overall compatibility of the Union rail system

Authorisation for placing in service fixed installations is carried out by the CRR as the national safety authority.

Vehicle authorisation can be carried out by either the CRR as the national safety authority (where use of the vehicle is limited to its own jurisdiction) or by ERA.

The main EU legal requirements relating to interoperability and authorisation are, the Interoperability Directive (IOD) EU/2016/797, the Railway Safety Directive (RSD) EU/2016/798, the common safety method for risk evaluation and assessment (EU 402/2013 as amended by EU 2015/1136) and (EU) 2018/545 which establishes practical arrangements for vehicle authorisations.

The CRR has published guidance, CRR-G-009, on authorisation of heavy rail fixed installations and vehicles which can be seen in the published guidance section of our website.

Acceptance of New Works and New Rolling Stock – Railway Safety Act 2005

The Railway Safety Act 2005 lays down provisions for the safety assessment and acceptance of ‘new works’ and ‘new rolling stock’ by the CRR.  The process to be followed by applicants is also contained in CRR-G-009.

In addition to CRR-G-009 the CRR has also published guidelines for light rail, heritage railway infrastructure, heritage railway rolling stock and velo rail systems, (CRR-G-032, CRR-G-034, CRR-G-036 and CRR-G-055 respectively).  All can be seen in the published guidance section of our website.