One less thing to worry about
How GB rail can respond appropriately to changes in EU rail regulations
Tom Lee Director of Standards, RSSB
Recent proposed post-EU regulatory reform might have raised concerns about the implications for rail. Although the EU’s Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs) are changing this year, we’re keen to make sure corresponding technical specifications in GB work for GB rail industry.
We’re keen to help rail leaders deliver a smarter, safer railway, and that covers a huge volume of issues, emerging issues, and changing issues for rail leaders to address. So it’s particularly pleasing when we can help you by telling what RSSB is doing to support this.
For those who aren’t aware, since EU Exit, National Technical Specification Notices (NTSNs) replaced the EU’s TSIs in Great Britain. NTSNs are government’s high-level specifications which set out requirements for new, upgraded, and renewed infrastructure and rolling stock, and some component products. They play a really important role in the efficient delivery of rail projects, rail reliability, use of new innovative rail technology, and the competitiveness of the rail supply chain.
Since EU Exit, technical requirements have been aligned with the equivalent EU specifications in TSIs, which supports international supply chains and operations. This year, most TSIs are being revised in the EU with a focus on the digital railway and ‘green freight’. There needs to be a Department for Transport (DfT) decision about whether, and how, NTSNs are revised for GB considering what is in the best interests of the GB rail industry. To inform this, government has committed to working closely with RSSB, and we are providing a formal recommendation on behalf of the whole rail industry. RSSB’s standards team has already run an initial industry-wide consultation, and established expert stakeholder groups to support this.
It’s really important for stakeholders to contribute where they want to, so making this easier supports our overall purpose. To help the industry engage with this and easily understand the implications, we’ve developed a classification system to categorise the types of changes that are being proposed. There are three basic response categories for key changes: adopting a proposed TSI change in the NTSN, sticking with what we are doing currently with the existing NTSN requirement, or doing something else. We’ve also classified the impact of any divergence between GB and EU requirements to draw out what is important to be aware of. Stakeholders will be able to contribute in a further consultation once the final versions of the TSIs are published by the EU. When we have consulted with industry and agreed with our standards committees, RSSB will make recommendations to DfT about appropriate changes on behalf of the sector.
This work is being done without the provision of any additional external budget, which clearly has an impact on the speed and volume of other RSSB standards work we are able to deliver, given the importance of this work and the impact it will have on the whole industry.
The work RSSB is doing is the most efficient and effective way for industry to address the opportunities and challenges of revisions to TSIs and hence NTSNs.
We bring contemporary relevant knowledge and expertise, stakeholder engagement already tailored to standards work, and a close working relationship with government. These are all essential for undertaking this work effectively, and they enable us to provide assurance and reassurance to the stakeholder community.