05/01/2013

York EMC Serv ices Ltd :: EMC Standards in Railway s

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EMC Standards in Railw ays

New standards and new regulations have streamlined the process of demonstrating conformance with the EMC Directive for apparatus in the railway environment. Three events have transpired to bring about this streamlining: The publication of the 2006 version of EN 50121, the European standard relating to EMC in railway environments; The switchover to the regime of the new EMC directive (2004/108/EC) and its implementing UK legislation SI 2006: 3418; and The publication of the latest list of harmonised standards under the EMC directive in the OJEU, which contains a reference to all parts of EN 50121: 2006.

EN 50121
The European Standard EN 50121 relating to railways has five parts. Part 1 provides a general introduction, describes the railway environment and defines the management of EMC between rolling stock and the infrastructure. Part 2 is concerned with the interface between the railway system and the outside world. It defines limits of emissions and appropriate measurement techniques. Part 3 is sub-divided. 3-1 covers the train and complete vehicle, emission limits and measurement techniques are defined. 3-2 covers train-borne apparatus. Emission limits, immunity levels and measurement methods are specified. This standard also defines locations for rolling stock apparatus within a vehicle, immunity criteria similar to the generic standards and apparatus ports for the main type of traction power circuit. Part 4 covers signalling and telecommunication apparatus. Emission limits, immunity levels and measurement methods are specified. Part 5 covers fixed power supply apparatus and installations. Whilst the scope of the standards cover the frequency range DC to 400GHz, emission limits are not set above 1GHz. Immunity levels are specified up to 2.5 GHz (increased from 1 GHz in the 2000 version).

Apparatus in the Railway Env ironment

Apparatus for use on-board trains (Part 3-2), signalling & telecommunications equipment (Part 4) and power supply apparatus (Part 5) can now be declared to comply with the EMC directive, for the railway environment, by applying the appropriate Part of EN 50121 this now provides a presumption of conformity. Suppliers of apparatus for railway environments may, however, be contractually
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York EMC Serv ices Ltd :: EMC Standards in Railway s

required to provide specific documentation regarding EMC, due to the requirements for fixed installations.

Fixed Installations
New installations in the railway environment (or modifications) are regarded as fixed installations; while exempt from CE marking and Declarations, there are explicit requirements for the "Responsible Person" of the installation to compile and maintain documentation sufficient to demonstrate the compliance of the installation with the essential requirements of the EMC directive. EN 50121 provides overall emission limits (Part 2) and per-train emission limits (Part 31). It also requires an EMC management plan to be produced and followed. Such a management plan should minimise or remove problems due to incompatibility, and should provide the necessary documentation for the Responsible Person. NB: in the UK, requirements of the organisations owning and operating infrastructure and services may not fully match the above requirements.
Last updated: 2007-Sep-28
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