Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on a Progress Report on the implementation of the Railway Safety Directive and of the Railway interoperability Directives (text with EEA relevance) {SEC(2009) 1157}
Date: 2009-09-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: high-speed transport, rail network, rail transport, report, trans-European network, transport policy, transport regulations, transport safety

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 8.9.2009 
COM(2009) 464 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

on a Progress Report on the implementation of the Railway Safety Directive and of the 
Railway interoperability Directives 

(text with EEA relevance) 

{SEC(2009) 1157} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

on a Progress Report on the implementation of the Railway Safety Directive and of the 
Railway interoperability Directives 

(text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This report describes the stage reached so far in implementing the Railway Safety Directive 
and in achieving interoperability of the European rail system since the first report adopted by 
the  Commission  in  November  20061.  It  responds  to  Article  31  of  the  Railway  Safety 
Directive2,  Article  24  of  the  high-speed  Interoperability  Directive3  and  Article  28  of  the 
conventional rail Interoperability Directive4. 

To  prepare  for  this  report,  the  European  Commission  commissioned  a  study  analysing  the 
degree  of  implementation  of  rail  interoperability  and  safety  legislation  and  progress  in  the 
field5, and carried out a public consultation. The results of the consultation are summarised in 
the annex to this report6. 

On  railway  safety,  too,  the  report  builds  on  the  findings  of  the  first  biennial  report  on  the 
development of railway safety in the European Community issued by the European Railway 
Agency in 20087.  

Recent amendments to the legal framework for railway safety and interoperability8 have not 
been considered in this report as they are still being transposed at national level. 

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Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament: Progress Report on the 
implementation of the interoperability Directives. COM(2006) 660 final. 
Directive 2004/49/EC of 29 April 2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on safety on the 
Community’s railways. OJ L 220, 21.06.2004 p. 16. 
Council  Directive  96/48/EC  of 23 July  1996  on  the  interoperability  of  the  trans-European  high-speed 
rail system. OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p.6. 
Directive  2001/16/EC  of  19  March  2001  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the 
interoperability of the conventional rail system. OJ L 110, 20.4.2001, p.1. 
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/rail/studies/doc/2007_interoperability_safety.pdf. 
Commission  staff  working  document  accompanying the  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the 
Council  and  European  Parliament:  Progress  Report  on  the  implementation  of  the  Railway  Safety 
Directive and of the Railway interoperability Directives. SEC(2009) XXX. 
http://www.era.europa.eu/core/Safety/Documents/our%20products/ERA%20biennial%20reports/Web-
ERA_Rapport_final_2008-09-01.pdf. 
Directive  2008/57/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  17  June  2008  on 
interoperability of the rail system within the Community. OJ L 191, 18.7.2008, p. 1. 
Directive 2008/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 amending 
Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community’s railways. OJ L 345, 23.12.2008, p. 62. 

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2. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RAILWAY SAFETY DIRECTIVE 

2.1. 

Transposition by Member States 

All Member States have notified the Commission of their national measures implementing the 
Railway  Safety  Directive,  except  for  Luxembourg,  against  which  infringement  proceedings 
are still open. However, in several cases transposition has been delayed and did not meet the 
legal deadline specified in the Directive (30 April 2006). 

The next step is to check that all provisions of the Directive have been correctly implemented; 
this includes conformity checks and detailed analyses to verify, for example, the capacity of 
the national bodies to perform the tasks required by the Directives. These analyses are still in 
hand  and  it  is  therefore  too  early  to  draw  final  conclusions  on  this  issue.  However,  some 
initial  results  are  available  on  the  notification  of  national  safety  rules  and  the  setting  up  of 
national bodies. 

2.2. 

National safety rules and notification 

Article 8 of the Railway Safety Directive requires Member States to establish national safety 
rules and to notify them to the European Commission. These are rules on safety requirements 
imposed at Member State level and applicable to more than one railway undertaking. 

Almost  5000  national  safety  rules  have  been  notified.  On  request  of  the  Commission  the 
Agency  has  examined  these  notifications  and  recommended  asking  for  clarification  or  re-
notification of national safety rules by most Member States. 

As for the question of publishing the national safety rules, in 2009 the Agency is expected to 
propose ways to improve access. 

2.3. 

Setting up of national authorities and bodies 

The role of the national safety authorities (NSA) is critical both in maintaining safety and in 
ensuring that safety is not a barrier to market opening when developing interoperability. Most 
of  the  NSAs  were  established  in  2006  and  2007.  At  the  end  of  2008  there  was  only  one 
Member State that had not yet established its NSA. In general most of the NSAs come under 
the Ministry of Transport. 

Member States must also set up independent investigation bodies charged with investigating 
serious  railway  accidents.  By  April  2009,  only  one  Member  State  had  not  yet  set  up  its 
national investigation body (NIB).  

The  Agency  has  established  networks  to  facilitate  cooperation  and  sharing  of  views  and 
experience by these national bodies. 

2.4. 

Development and implementation of secondary legislation at European level 

The  Railway  Safety  Directive  provides  for  a  large  amount  of  secondary  legislation  to  be 
adopted  by  the  Commission  and  drafted  by  the  Agency  based  on  mandates  issued  by  the 
Commission (see annex6). 

In 2007 the first instrument was adopted: Commission Regulation (EC) No 653/2007 on the 
use  of  a  common  European  format  for  safety  certificates  and  application  documents  in 

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accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC and on the validity of safety certificates 
delivered under Directive 2001/14/EC9. 

Common safety methods for risk assessment and to assess achievement of safety targets were 
respectively  adopted  on  24  April  2009  10  and  5  June  2009  11while  further  legislation  is  in 
preparation. 

2.5. 

Safety Certification 

The  Railway  Safety  Directive  introduced  the  obligation  for  railway  undertakings  and 
infrastructure managers to obtain a safety certificate or authorisation. Both safety certificates 
and  authorisations  consist  of  two  parts.  Part  A  confirms  the  acceptance  of  a  railway 
undertaking’s/  infrastructure  manager’s  safety  management  system  whereas  Part  B  is 
network-specific. 

By  31  March  2009,  the  public  database  of  safety  certificates  managed  by  the  Agency 
contained 277 valid Type A certificates. Most of them were issued in 2007 and 2008.  

Further information on the status of safety certification, and a proposed strategy for migration 
towards a single Community safety certificate, will be produced by the Agency in 2010 based 
on an evaluation of the safety certification procedures in the Member States. 

2.6. 

Safety Reporting  

According to Article 18 of the Railway Safety Directive, NSAs must publish annual reports 
giving  information  on  the  railway  safety  situation.  The  Agency  uses  these  reports  to 
continuously monitor the development of railway safety in the EU (see biennial ERA report7). 

Overall, initial figures confirm that railways are very safe for rail users, with fewer than 100 
fatalities annually compared to about 40 000 on EU roads. Furthermore, the development of 
railway safety in the EU Member States can be regarded as very positive, as the number of 
passenger fatalities went down from around 400 in 1970 to only 58 in 2006. 

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OJ L 153 of 14 June 2007, p. 9. 
JO L 108 of 29 April 2009, p. 4–19 
JO L 150 of 13 June 2009, p. 11–19 

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These  figures  and  further  analyses  on  country  basis  also  demonstrate  that  opening  of  the 
market and separation of functions can be carried out without adverse effects on safety.  

However,  figures  show  that  there  is  high  representation  of  third  parties  in  fatal  railway 
accidents.  These  are  mostly  unauthorised  persons  (trespassers)  and  level  crossing  users 
(together around 1 500 fatalities per year). Suicides constitute another particular feature of rail 
accidents:  these  fatalities  are  not  reported  as  accidents  and  they  are  seldom  subject  to  press 
reports. In 2006 they accounted for about 2 300, i.e. more than 60% of all fatalities. 

3. 

PROGRESS TOWARDS INTEROPERABILITY 

3.1. 

Implementation of the Interoperability Directives 

All  Member  States  have  notified  national  measures  implementing  the  Interoperability 
Directives 96/48/EC (High-Speed), Directive 2001/16/EC (Conventional Rail) and Directive 
2004/50  (alignment  of  High-Speed  and  Conventional  Rail  Directives  and  extension  of  the 
scope).  

The Railway Interoperability Directives provide for a large amount of secondary legislation. 
Beside  the  technical  specifications  for  interoperability  (TSIs,  see  3.2)  the  Commission 
adopted Decision 2007/756/EC on a common specification of the national vehicle register12. 
Other  registers  are  specified  by  the  Directives  (e.g.  register  of  infrastructure,  register  of 
rolling stock) and are being developed by the Agency. 

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OJ L 305, 23.11.2007, p. 30. 

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3.2. 

TSIs: state of play 

TSIs  are  technical  specifications  meeting  the  essential  requirements  defined  by  the 
Interoperability Directives at sub-system and interoperability constituent level.  

For  high-speed  rail  since  2002  a  series  of  TSIs  has  been  adopted  covering  all  relevant 
subsystems followed by a revision of several TSIs in 2008. A list of all TSIs and Decisions 
amending TSIs is provided in the annex6. 

The  Commission  also  adopted  several  TSIs  for  conventional  rail  covering  telematics 
applications  for  freight  services  (TAF),  noise  emissions,  control  command  and  signalling 
(CCS),  freight  wagons,  and  traffic  operation  and  management  (OPE).  In  addition  two 
transversal  TSIs  applicable  to  high-speed  and  conventional  rail  deal  with  safety  in  railway 
tunnels and persons with reduced mobility. All these TSIs have been drafted by the European 
Association  for  Railway  Interoperability  (AEIF)  appointed  to  act  as  the  joint  representative 
body established under Directive 96/48/EC. 

Since 2006 the European Railway Agency is preparing the remaining group of conventional 
rail TSIs covering infrastructure, energy, rolling stock (locomotives, multiple units, passenger 
coaches)  and  telematics  applications  for  passengers  (TAP).  The  adoption  of  those  TSIs  is 
expected by 2010. 

However, this legal framework needs to be further developed, e.g. to correct errors and close 
open points in TSIs and to extend their geographical scope (see 3.5). 

For  this  reason  the  Agency  is  currently  working  on  revisions  of  the  following  conventional 
rail  TSIs:  freight  wagons,  OPE  and  CCS.  These  revised  TSIs are expected to be adopted in 
2010. For the other TSIs, a process of change management is in place. 

3.3. 

Analysis of derogations 

Derogations allow exceptions from the application of TSIs under certain conditions laid down 
by  the  Interoperability  Directives.  Between  the  adoption  of  the  first  TSIs  in  2002  and  the 
entry  into  force  of  Directive  2008/57/EC  on  19  July  2008,  the  Commission  received  43 
derogations from 9 Member States. The full list of derogations is provided in the annex6. 

These derogations relate to almost all TSIs in force. The highest numbers of derogations have 
been  received  for  the  TSIs  on  noise  (18  derogations),  freight  wagons  (11),  energy  (high-
speed, 6), CCS (high-speed, 5) and infrastructure (high-speed, 5). 

The  majority  of  the  derogations  (34)  have  been  based  on  Article  7(a)  of  both  Directives 
granting exemptions from the application of TSIs for new, renewed or upgraded sub-systems 
at an advanced stage of development at the time of publication of a TSI. Due to the specific 
nature of this type of derogation they can only be granted a short time after the publication of 
the TSI, and the number of new derogations can therefore be expected to decline significantly 
in the coming years once all TSIs are adopted. 

Overall,  the  moderate  number  and  the  types  of  derogations  indicate  that  the  application  of 
TSIs can be regarded as successful. 

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3.4. 

Interoperability in the field 

To  analyse  the  progress  towards  interoperability  of  European  railways,  the  number  of 
conformity certificates issued by Notified Bodies for sub-systems can provide an indication as 
to  how  the  TSIs  are  being  applied.  As  the  TSIs  for  conventional  rail  are  not  yet  complete, 
figures  are  given  for  high-speed  rail.  The  following  chart  shows  the  number  of  certificates 
issued and requested by July 2007 (source: NB Rail): 

70

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50

40

30

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10

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60

45

25

23

11

Certificates issued

Certificates requested

30

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INS

CCS

RST

These  figures  indicate  significant  activity  in  the  certification  of  sub-systems,  each  of  which 
contributes to the interoperability of European railways. 

The  introduction  of  ERTMS  on  the  European  interoperable  network  is  another  important 
indicator  of  progress  towards  interoperability.  By  the  end  of  2008  approximately  2 000 
kilometres of lines equipped with ERTMS were in commercial service in different European 
countries, in particular high speed lines.  

The difficulties related to the definition of a single common and compatible technical standard 
were overcome in 2008, with the signature of a MoU between the European Commission and 
the rail sector. 

Contracts  signed  recently  and  the  national  deployment  plans  submitted  by  Member  States 
show that we will face an exponential increase over the next years: 11 500 kilometres will be 
in service by the end of 2012, and 23 000 by the end of 2015.  

A binding European Deployment Plan was adopted on 22 July 2009 13 and aims at a swift and 
coordinated  deployment  of  the  system.  Specifically,  it  plans  to  equip  the  first  outline  of  a 

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OJ L 194 of 25 July 2009 

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network by 2015 (including key links such as Rotterdam–Genoa, Munich–Verona, Antwerp–
Basel,  Valencia–Lyon–Budapest,  Dresden–Budapest–Constanta  or  Berlin–Terespol).  By 
2020, the main European freight hubs will be ‘ERTMS-linked’ thus providing a new business 
opportunity for rail freight operators. 

Both  analyses  show  that  the  interoperability  of  the  European  railway  system  is  steadily 
increasing.  

3.5. 

Obstacles to interoperability 

For more than a century the development of the railways has been managed nationally on the 
basis  of  national  requirements  rather  than  a  common  European  approach.  As  a  result 
international rail transport in Europe is still complex and costly to operate. This segmentation 
is  still  a  barrier  to  a  Europe-wide  rail  area  even  though  substantial  financial,  political  and 
human resources have been invested in integrating the railway systems. 

The lifespan of rail assets is long, ranging from 30-40 years for rolling stock to a century for 
infrastructure. So for technical harmonisation to be feasible, migration to an interoperable rail 
system  mainly  involves  applying  the  interoperability  requirements  to  new,  renewed  and 
upgraded sub-systems. This requires time and consequently progress is to be expected in the 
medium to long term. In certain cases, such as ERTMS, it is only possible to reap the benefit 
of  interoperability  when  the  system  is  deployed  in  a  coordinated  manner  along  a  whole 
corridor. In such cases, it is necessary to upgrade existing line sections before the end of life 
of the subsystem. 

Another  barrier  to  interoperability  is  the  continuation  of  differing  national  practices  where 
European  harmonisation  has  already  started.  This  may  be  due  either  to  the  incomplete 
European  legal  framework  or  to  loopholes  allowing  differences  in  interpretation.  While  the 
legal  framework  for  high-speed  rail  is  already  complete,  that  for  conventional  rail  is  still 
under development, as the TSIs for infrastructure and energy subsystems and for traction units 
and  passenger  carriages  have  not  yet  been  finalised  and  adopted.  This  obstacle  will  be 
overcome by 2010. 

In  this  context,  the  existence  of  so-called  ‘open  points’  in  TSIs  can  lead  to  gaps  in 
interoperability, as national requirements with different interface solutions are applied. By the 
end of 2008 there were over 100 different open points in the TSIs in force. A possible solution 
to this problem is to close the open points when the TSIs are revised. 

In addition, the existing TSIs only cover parts of the railway system, as the scope of the two 
Interoperability  Directives  is  limited  to  trans-European  rail  networks  as  defined  in  Decision 
1692/96/EC14. Directive 2004/50/EC provided for the scope to be extended progressively to 
the whole network and all vehicles when new TSIs are adopted or existing ones revised. To 
implement  this  provision  in  a  proportional  manner,  in  2007  the  Commission  mandated  the 
Agency to analyse the feasibility of extending the geographical scope of newly revised TSIs. 
The analysis is expected to be finalised in 2009. 

Another potential barrier is related to the integration of a sub-system into the railway system 
at  the  time  of  the  placing  in  service  procedure  specified  in  the  Interoperability  Directives. 

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OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1. 

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Before  a  NSA  can  authorise  placing  in  service,  the  sub-system  must  be  shown  to  be 
compatible  with  the  railway  system  as  a  whole.  TSIs  cannot  provide  all  the  necessary 
requirements for this assessment. There is a risk that specific operational procedures will be 
introduced  and  will  lead  to  reduced  interoperability.  This  aspect  of  ‘integration’  has  been 
improved in the new Interoperability Directive and will also be addressed by the Commission 
Regulation on CSM on risk analysis that is expected to be adopted in the first half of 2009. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  progress  made  thanks  to  the  Community  regulatory  framework  for  railway  safety  and 
interoperability should encourage further development of the internal rail market, helping the 
emergence of new businesses, the cutting of entry costs and, ultimately, the competitiveness 
of rail as compared to other modes of transport. 

The analyses carried out in this report show mixed results for the time being. 

As for rail safety, statistics indicate that the railway system in the Community is safe and the 
organisational changes stemming from the Community framework not only had no negative 
impact on safety but are expected to raise safety levels in the short and medium terms. 

From the market perspective, safety requirements still impose significant entry barriers. These 
relate  mainly  to  the  cost  and  the  duration  of  the  procedures  involved  at national level, their 
disparity  across  Europe  and  the  lack  of  transparency/predictability.  Substantial  progress  in 
this  field  is  expected,  partly  due  to  the  harmonisation  of  safety  certificates  for  railway 
undertakings  and  the  introduction  of  Common  Safety  Methods,  and  partly  due  to  the  cross-
acceptance of national rules when authorising the placing into service of rail vehicles.  

The success of these activities will depend on two conditions: 

•  The full establishment of the newly created bodies, especially NSAs, operating at similar 
levels  of  competence  and  efficiency.  This  is  necessary  to  create  mutual  trust  between 
NSAs.  The  Commission  will  therefore  continue  to  check  that  Community  legislation  has 
been correctly transposed as far as new structures and tools are concerned. 

•  The  leading  role  of  the  European  Railway  Agency  in  gradually  harmonising  safety  rules 
and  procedures  and  progressively  replacing  them  with  common  methods.  This  role  may 
evolve even further in the future towards complementing or supplementing the activities of 
NSAs in the certification and authorisation processes. 

The secondary legislation on interoperability is expected to be completed in 2010 as far as the 
TEN-T  network  is  concerned.  This  is  certainly  a  priority  for  the  Commission,  as  no  real 
interoperability  can  be  achieved  without  TSIs  for  all  sub-systems.  Another  priority  for  the 
Commission  is  to  manage  the  transition  from  the  old  regime  (with  the  International  Wagon 
Regulations  (RIV)  as  the  industry’s  main  agreement  on  rules  for  international  and  national 
traffic) to the new regime created by the TSIs and the registers of infrastructure and rolling 
stock. 

The  increasing  number  of  conformity  certificates  issued  for  sub-systems  and  the  limited 
number of derogations indicate that overall the existing TSIs are being successfully applied. 
This  also  underlines  the  importance  of  Notified  Bodies  and  their  role  in  increasing 

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competence  and  mutual  trust.  However,  residual  open  points  in  TSIs  and  the  limited 
geographical scope of the TSIs may hamper the future integration of the European rail system 
as they constitute obstacles to interoperability. Therefore it will be essential to close the open 
points and toextend the scope of TSIs in a reasonably short period of time. 

Progress  towards  interoperability  is  a  slow  process.  Because  of  the  long  lifetime  of  rail 
infrastructure  and  rolling  stock  and  the  need  to  keep  investment  costs  for  the  sector  at  an 
acceptable level, radical changes towards harmonized solutions are not possible. This is why 
the Commission intends to concentrate efforts on implementing those technical specifications 
that  will  deliver  significant  benefits  in  the  short  and  medium  term,  namely  the  CCS,  TAF, 
TAP and OPE TSIs. 

It  will  also  be  necessary  for  future  revisions  of  TSIs  to  give  a  higher  consideration  to  the 
principles  developed  under  the  strategy  for  simplifying  the  regulatory  environment  and  to 
ensure  the  relevance,  effectiveness  and  proportionality  of  the  railway  legislation.  For 
example, more use of voluntary European standards will be considered. This report has given 
the  Commission  an  opportunity  to  highlight  these  issues.  It  will  continue  to  check  how  the 
legal framework for railway safety and interoperability is implemented in practice, ensuring 
that all the secondary legislation is introduced (mainly TSIs for conventional rail and common 
safety  methods)  and  the  new  Directives  are  transposed.  Then  the  Commission  intends  to 
prepare  a  Communication  reviewing  its  policies  on  interoperability  and  the  safety  of  the 
Community railway system.  

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