GovWire

EU conformity assessment for rail interoperability constituents and subsystems

The government has today (7 December 2022) announced that EU conformity assessment for rail interoperability constituents and subsystems will continue to be recognised in Great Britain until 31 December 2024.

This follows the announcement by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on 14 November 2022 that CE product marking will continue to be recognised in Great Britain for an additional two years, which will allow businesses to use either UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) or CE markings until that date.

Due to difficult economic conditions created by post-pandemic shifts in demand and supply, alongside the war in Ukraine and the associated high energy prices, the government does not want to burden businesses with meeting the original deadline (1 January 2023) and therefore will continue to recognise EU conformity assessment for interoperability constituents and subsystems in accordance with the current recognition arrangements in the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011.

EU certification for entities in charge of maintenance

The government will introduce legislation to end the recognition of EU certificates issued to entities in charge of maintenance (ECMs) with responsibility for freight wagons operating domestically in Great Britain from 30 June 2023. This period of recognition has been extended beyond the original proposed date of 1 January 2023 in order to provide affected ECMs and the wider rail freight industry with sufficient time to prepare.

ECMs play an important safety role by ensuring that the vehicles they maintain are kept in a safe state of running. All domestic rail vehicles are required to have an ECM assigned to them and ECMs with responsibility for freight wagons comply with an additional certification requirement. Since 31 December 2020, the UK has continued to recognise EU certificates issued to ECMs for international and domestic freight wagons.

The UK is required to recognise EU ECM certificates for international traffic as it is a signatory of the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF), an international agreement concerning rail interoperability, and the government decided in 2019 to also recognise EU ECM certificates for domestic operations to support the smooth continuation of domestic and international freight services.

The decision to end recognition of EU ECM certificates domestically is in response to an urgent recommendation made by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) in a report published in January 2022 following their investigation into the freight derailment and fire at Llangennech in Wales on 26 August 2020.

The RAIB report recommended that the department and Office for Road and Rail (ORR) should jointly review the current arrangements for the oversight of entities in charge of maintenance that are not based in the UK.

To ensure the continued safety of the railway, the government has taken the decision to end the recognition of EU ECM certificates issued to ECMs responsible for the ongoing maintenance of domestic freight wagons. This will take effect from 30 June 2023. This does not apply in Northern Ireland where separate legislation applies.

The UK will continue to recognise EU certificates held by ECMs assigned to international rail vehicles in accordance with its international obligations.