Document ID: 32008D0163

COMMISSION DECISION
of 20 December 2007
concerning the technical specification of interoperability relating to ‘safety in railway tunnels’ in the trans-European conventional and high-speed rail system
(notified under document number C(2007) 6450)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2008/163/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Directive 2001/16/EC of 19 March 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the conventional rail system, (1) and in particular Article 6 (1) thereof,
Having regard to Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the high-speed rail system, (2) and in particular Article 6 (1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
In accordance with Article 5(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC, and Article 5(1) of Directive 96/48/EC, each of the subsystems shall be covered by one TSI. Where necessary, a subsystem may be covered by several TSIs and one TSI may cover several subsystems. The decision to develop and/or to review a TSI and the choice of its technical and geographical scope requires a mandate in accordance with Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC and Article 6(1) of 96/48/EC.
(2)
The first step in establishing a TSI is to have a draft TSI drawn up by the European Association for Railway Interoperability (AEIF) which was appointed as the joint representative body.
(3)
The AEIF has been given a mandate to draw up a draft TSI for ‘safety in railway tunnels’ in accordance with Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC.
(4)
The draft TSI has been examined by the Committee set up by Directive 96/48/EC on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system and referred to in Article 21 of Directive 2001/16/EC.
(5)
Directives 2001/16/EC and 96/48/EC and the TSIs do apply to renewals but not to maintenance-related replacements. However Member States are encouraged, when they are able to do so and where it is justified by the scope of the maintenance-related work, to apply the TSIs to maintenance-related replacements.
(6)
In its current version the TSI does not fully deal with all essential requirements. In accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2001/16/EC, and Article 17 of Directive 96/48/EC, technical aspects which are not covered are identified as ‘Open Points’ in Annex C of this TSI.
(7)
In accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2001/16/EC and Article 17 of Directive 96/48/EC, individual Member States are to inform the other Member States and the Commission of the relevant national technical rules in use for implementing essential requirements related to these ‘open points’, as well as of the bodies it appoints for carrying out the procedure for the assessment of conformity or suitability for use and the checking procedure in use for verifying the interoperability of subsystems within the meaning of Article 16(2) of Directive 2001/16/EC. For this latter purpose, Member States should apply, as far as possible, the principles and criteria provided for in Directives 2001/16/EC and 96/48/EC. Wherever possible Member States should make use of the bodies notified under Article 20 of Directive 2001/16/EC and Article 20 of 96/48/EC. The Commission should carry out an analysis of the information forwarded by the Member States, in the form of national rules, procedures, bodies in charge of implementing procedures, and duration of these procedures, and, where appropriate, should discuss with the Committee the need for the adoption of any measures.
(8)
The TSI in question should not demand the use of specific technologies or technical solutions except where this is strictly necessary for the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system.
(9)
The TSI is based on best available expert knowledge at the time of preparation of the relevant draft. Developments in technology, operational, safety or social requirements may make it necessary to amend or supplement this TSI. Where applicable, a review or updating procedure should be initiated in accordance with Article 6(3) of Directive 2001/16/EC, or Article 6(3) of Directive 96/48/EC.
(10)
To encourage innovation and in order to take into account the experience acquired, the attached TSI should be subject to a periodical revision at regular intervals.
(11)
Where innovative solutions are proposed the manufacturer or the contracting entity shall state the deviation from the relevant section of the TSI. The European Rail Agency will finalise the appropriate functional and interface specifications of the solution and develop the assessment methods.
(12)
The mandate requested that the ‘safety of railway tunnels’ TSI covered the prevention and mitigation of accidents and incidents in tunnels, especially those originated by fire hazards. All relevant potential risks were to be addressed in this context including those linked with derailment, collision, fire and release of dangerous substances. However, these objectives and risks would be taken into account only insofar they had an impact on the subsystems as described in the Directives and if the resulting specifications could be associated to relevant essential requirements. Several subsystems were expected to be considered, mainly: infrastructure, rolling stock, operation and traffic management, maintenance, described in Annex II of the Directives.
(13)
Railway tunnel experts from the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) have evaluated and assembled, in the 2000-2003 period, the best measures currently applied in Europe to ensure safety in new and existing tunnels. The experts from Infrastructure Managers, Railway Undertakings, rolling stock manufacturers and scientists gathered in the TSI working party in the 2003-2005 period have started their selection by considering these recommendations of best practice. Like the experts of UIC and UNECE, those of AEIF were of the opinion that the strength of railways lies in the prevention of accidents. Preventative measures are generally more cost-effective than mitigating or rescue measures. A combination of measures with preventative and mitigating character completed with self-rescue and rescue measures will best serve the aim of optimal safety at reasonable costs.
(14)
The main objective of the underlying Directives 96/48/EC and 2001/16/EC is interoperability. The aim was to harmonise the currently practiced safety measures and technical rules, in order to permit interoperability and to offer a similar approach for safety and safety measures to passengers all over Europe. In addition, a train that is complying with this TSI (and the rolling stock TSI) should be accepted, in general, in all tunnels on the trans-European network.
(15)
Safety levels in the Community rail system are generally high, in particular compared to road transport. Tunnels are even safer, from a statistical point of view, than the rest of the network. It is important however that safety is at the very least maintained during the current railways restructuring phase, which will separate functions of previously integrated railway companies and move the railway sector further from self-regulation to public regulation. This was the main rationale for Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community's railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (the Railway Safety Directive (3);: safety should be further improved, when reasonably practicable and taking into account the competitiveness of the rail transport mode.
(16)
The objective of this TSI was to guide the technical progress in tunnel safety towards harmonised and cost-efficient measures; they should be as far as reasonably practicable the same all over Europe.
(17)
This TSI applies to tunnels in the countryside with a small traffic volume as well as to those in the heart of urban areas with a great number of trains and passengers. This TSI prescribes only minimal requirements: TSI conformity does not constitute per se a guarantee for safe placing in service and safe operation. All parties involved in work on safety matters shall co-operate in order to achieve the appropriate level of safety for the tunnel concerned, in accordance with the provisions in this TSI and the interoperability directives. Member States are invited to verify, whenever they open a new tunnel, or when interoperable trains are running into existing tunnels, whether the local circumstances (including type and density of traffic) require additional measures to those specified in this TSI. They can do that by mean of a risk analysis or any other state-of-the-art methodology. These verifications are part of the safety certification and authorisation processes provided for in articles 10 and 11 of the Railway Safety Directive.
(18)
Some Member States already have safety measures in place which require a higher level of safety than that mandated in this TSI. Such existing rules are to be considered in the context of article 8 of on the Railway Safety Directive. In addition, in accordance with Article 4 of the same directive, Member States shall ensure that railway safety is generally maintained and, where reasonably practicable, continuously improved, taking into consideration the development of Community legislation and technical and scientific progress and giving priority to the prevention of serious accidents.
(19)
Member States are free to request for specific situations more stringent measures, as long as these measures do not hamper interoperability. Article 8 of the Railway Safety Directive and clause 1.1.6 of this TSI allow for this possibility. Such higher requirements may be based on a scenario analysis and risk analysis and may concern the subsystems ‘infrastructure’, ‘energy’ and ‘operation’. Member States are expected to consider such higher requirements in the light of the economical viability of the railway and after consultation of the concerned Infrastructure Managers, Railway Undertakings and rescue services.
(20)
In order to define the measures to be taken for the tunnel and for the train, only a restricted number of accident types have been defined. Relevant measures have been identified, which will suppress or significantly reduce the risks arising from these accident types. They have been developed, in the categories prevention, mitigation, evacuation, and rescue. Annex D of this TSI shows the qualitative relationship between the accident types and the measures, indicating which measures deal with each class of accident types. Consequently, the application of this TSI does not guarantee an absence of fatality risk.
(21)
As regards the role and responsibility of the rescue services, national authorities are competent to define it. The measures specified in this TSI in the field of rescue are based on the assumption that rescue services intervening in a tunnel accident shall protect lives, not material values such as vehicles or structures. This TSI further specified the expected task of the rescue services for each accident type.
(22)
The provisions of this Decision are in conformity with the opinion of the Committee set up by Article 21 of Council Directive 96/48/EC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
A Technical Specification for Interoperability (‘TSI’) relating to ‘safety in railway tunnels’ in the trans-European conventional system referred to in Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/16/EC and in the trans-European high-speed rail system referred to in Article 6(1) of Directive 96/48/EC is hereby adopted by the Commission.
The TSI shall be as set out in the Annex to this Decision.
The TSI shall be fully applicable to the trans-European conventional rail system as defined in Annex I to Directive 2001/16/EC, and the trans-European high-speed rail system as defined in Annex I to Directive 96/48/EC, account being taken of Article 2 of this Decision.
Article 2
1. With regard to those issues classified as ‘Open points’ set out in Annex C of the TSI, the conditions to be complied with for the verification of the interoperability pursuant to Article 16(2) of Directive 96/48/EC and Article 16(2) of Directive 2001/16/EC shall be those applicable technical rules in use in the Member State which authorise the placing in service of the subsystems covered by this Decision.
2. Each Member State shall notify to the other Member States and to the Commission within six months of the notification of this Decision:
(a)
the list of the applicable technical rules mentioned in paragraph 1;
(b)
the conformity assessment and checking procedures to be applied with regard to the application of these rules;
(c)
the bodies it appoints for carrying out those conformity-assessment and checking procedures.
Article 3
This Decision shall apply from 1 July 2008.
Article 4
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 December 2007.

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