European Railway Safety Directive

European Rail Safety Directive (2004/49/EC) supports the development of open and transparent access to the European rail market. The Directive, which was introduced in 2004, establishes a common regulatory framework designed to ensure that safety does not present a barrier to the establishment of a single market for railways.  The key measures the Safety Directive introduces are listed below.

The key requirements of the Directive have been implemented in Great Britain by The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS)

National Safety Rules (NSRs)

Article 8 of the Railway Safety Directive (2004/49) requires Member States to notify the European Commission of all of their relevant safety rules. These should relate to:

• Rules setting out national safety targets and safety measures, i.e. rules that describe qualitative and quantitative national targets;
• Rules concerning requirements of Safety Management Systems and safety certification of Railway Undertakings (including the acceptance criteria, process and procedures);
• Rules for placing into service new and substantially-altered rolling stock not covered by Technical Specification for Interoperability (TSIs), including rules for exchange of rolling stock between railway undertakings covering registration and requirements on testing;
• Common operating rules, including those for signalling and traffic management;
• Rules covering requirements for safety critical work; and
• Rules concerning the investigation of accidents and incidents.

The European Railway Agency expects to publish the NSRs notified by each Member State on their website during 2008.

Common Safety Indicators (CSIs)

Common Safety Indicators are high level indicators of significant risks to the mainline rail network (e.g. signals passed at danger and broken rails). Each Member States' National Safety Authority (Office of Rail Regulator in GB) is required to collect information on indicators and supply this to the European Commission in the form of an Annual Report. The first reference year will be 2006 and the information will be reported to the European Commission in 2007. CSIs will inform the assessment and achievement of Common Safety Targets (CSTs).

Common Safety Methods (CSMs)

Common Safety Methods are the methods by which the accident/incident information from the CSIs are addressed (e.g. risk assessment) in order to develop measures to mitigate the risks in future. The first set of CSMs will be adopted by the European Commission in 2008.

Common Safety Targets (CSTs)

Common Safety Targets will define the minimum safety levels that must be reached by the railway system in each Member State.  Member States will be able to exceed the target but must not be below target. The first set of CSTs will be adopted by the European Commission in 2009.

Safety Authorisations

The European Rail Safety Directive (2004/49) requires the Member States' National Safety Authority (ORR in GB) to grant safety authorisations to mainline Infrastructure Managers (e.g. Network Rail) and safety certificates to mainline Railway Undertakings (e.g. train operating companies). The purpose of safety authorisations/certificates is to provide evidence that railway operators have established suitable Safety Management System (SMS) and is operating in accordance with them.  For more information see the ORR website .

Investigation of Accidents

The Railway Safety Directive (2004/49) requires Member States to ensure that after a serious accident, an investigation is carried out by an investigating body with the objective of improving (where possible) railway safety and preventing future accidents. This is taken forward in the UK by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch .

Article 21/27 Committee

The Article 21/27 Committee (A21/27C) is a regulatory committee provided for under Article 21 of both the Conventional and High Speed Directives and Article 27 of the Railway Safety Directive. The Committee is comprised of Member States' representatives including the UK. One of the roles of the A21/27C is to debate, discuss and approve the supporting processes and measures, such as CSMs and CSTs.