Challenges and the benefits of interoperability for

the railway industry and the rail transport

Eric Fontanel
UNIFE General Manager
 What is UNIFE ?

UNIFE represents the European rail supply industry

 Based in Brussels since 1992, 24 permanent employees

 A trusted partner of the European institutions in all matters related to
rail and transport

 UNIFE members have an 80% market share in Europe and supply more
than 50% of the worldwide production of rail equipment and services.

 Full members: 62 of the largest and

medium-sized companies in the rail
supply sector

 Associated members: 18 National

Associations, representing almost
1,000 suppliers of railway equipment
 UNIFE Members

 61 Full Members  15 National Associations

 UNIFE harmonisation objectives

 Ensure technical interoperability

and standardisation, to enhance
railway system in a competitive
global market

 Coordinate the efforts in

standardisation areas, European
technical regulation and research
towards a better interoperable and
even more environmentally friendly
European railway transport system

 Covers all the product areas of the

railway system relevant for standards
and regulation
 Benefits of Interoperability

 Interoperability is a high priority for the manufacturing industry,

especially when concerning
 Rolling Stock
 ERTMS

 Huge Benefits:
 Full open market
 Standardisation/bigger volumes
 No more borders
 Increase of rail traffic
 …

 Challenges for Rolling Stock manufacturers:

 Not so technical but rather procedural & administrative
 Current EC regulatory framework

 New single Interoperability Directive 2008/57/EC of 17 June 2008

 Introduces the concept of type authorisation

 Provides a legal basis to Cross Acceptance agreements

 Clarifies the conditions for putting in service of TSI compliant vehicles

 New ERA Regulation (EC) No 1225/2008 of 16 December 2008

 The ERA is mandated to develop a reference document with information on

all the national rules on placing in service of rolling stock

 New Safety Directive 2008/110/EC of 16 December 2008

 Confirms the responsibility for the authorisation for placing vehicle in service
to National Safety Authorities (NSA)
 Business needs

 We have now entered into the most complex period in terms of

placing in service of railways vehicles

 Opening of the railways international transport market and

equipment procurement market, leading to:

 a fast increasing need for international placing in service

 pressure on prices and design of “platform” standard rolling

stock solutions by European manufacturers

 Enforcement of National Safety Authorities powers, leading to the

publication of national rules in the 27 member states

 Certification/Authorisation cost very high: 1 to 5 Million euros per

product and per country
 Vehicle Authorisation request
in Germany until 2010

1200 1123

1000 929
Number of Vehicule

800

600
497

375
400

200
71 59
14 41
0
2007 2008 2009 2010

Type / Vehicle
 Administrative burden

 TSIs harmonise:
 Basic parameters and interfaces - §4
 Conformity assessment by Notified Bodies - §6

 The rolling stock TSI are only valid on the TEN network, which
includes only 40% of the European conventional lines

 But practically all vehicles (high speed as well as conventional)

have also to be authorised for non TEN routes

 NSA authorisation for placing in service still means conformity

with national rules and application of national processes, in
addition to conformity to the TSI

 The conformity to the rolling stock TSI for passenger trains is

therefore, for the moment, seen by the manufacturing industry
as a counter-productive burden
 New Interoperability Directive:
Type Authorisation

 Simplifies and speeds-up the authorisation process

 Clarifies the national authorisation process of existing types by

the National Safety Authorities

 Achieve structured transparency

 New Interoperability Directive:
Cross Acceptance

 Fosters national bilateral agreements for mutual recognition of

certifications and authorisations of placing in service of new
rolling stock and other sub-systems
 First results:
 France and Germany
 Recent return of experience underlines difficulties linked to the different
processes

 Corridor A Member States - IRL

(International Requirement List)
 A truly harmonised European market

 The combination of the authorisation of type and of cross-

acceptance agreements will help to lift the administrative burden
during an interim period

 But it cannot be sufficient on the medium term for the real and
definitive creation of a fully open European market

 UNIFE therefore fully supports the ERA works on the creation of

the national rules reference list and on fostering harmonisation
of certification procedures

 But our final medium term objective is the ultimate elimination of

all unnecessarily national technical rules and national
certifications

 National rules should ultimately be strictly restricted to duly

identified national specific cases in Infrastructure, energy or
control-command
 Lessons from experience

 Experience shows that :

 only limited and well known in advance technical
modifications are necessary for a Rolling Stock to be placed
in service in a second country
 the technical characteristics of a large majority of the off
TEN routes do not differ significantly from the TEN ones

 Furthermore, the compliance with

the Rolling Stock TSI does not
introduce higher construction costs,
when the series can be enlarged by
international acceptance
 Extension of the ERA role

 Step beyond the technical harmonisation:

 Harmonisation of the authorisation/certification process in

Europe, including:
 Roles and responsibilities
 Legal framework

 Solve the incoherence between Interoperability and Safety

Directive

 As a consequence for the future:

 ERA as European authority for the certification of rolling

stock
 NSA focussing on national specific cases
Thank you for your attention