Cliff Cork Independent Chair Industry Standards Coordination Committee
The Industry Standards Coordination Committee (ISCC) has continued to meet during 2023 in a hybrid format with good attendance and several members choosing to attend in person. Four routine meetings were held with an additional meeting in March to review proposals to change the Railway Group Standards Code and Standards Manual. From a start in 2023, members have been encouraged to share the experience of using standards from their constituency’s perspective. This has been insightful and will continue during 2024.
The chairs of the standards committees all joined ISCC during the year to report on key activities within their respective committees. The Data, Systems and Telematics standards committee which was created in 2022 is now firmly established with a busy agenda, standards in development, and ready for forthcoming changes to the telematics TSIs expected to be published by the European Commission later in 2024.
I’m pleased that ISCC endorsed changes to the Standards Code and Manual, which were subsequently agreed by the RSSB Board and approved by the Regulator and came into force on 1 January 2024. It’s nearly nine years since the last revision. Although there was need for minor changes to bring them up to date, the consistency in the standards process has provided a positive solid foundation while there has been so much change elsewhere in the industry. A new phase of work will now start for a more extensive revision, capitalising on opportunities post exit from the EU and the learning and experience from EU-derived legislation.
Standardisation at the European and global level continues to be important, and the UK is well represented in the principal European standards bodies, European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and the international standards bodies, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). I continue to Chair the senior rail standardisation group in CEN, TC 256 Railway applications.
As reported by the standards committee chairs and Department for Transport (DfT) representatives at ISCC, the revision to the British National Technical Specification Notices (NTSNs) has been a dominant activity during 2023. Consultation on proposed changes, consequent on those implemented in the EU, concluded towards the end of 2023 and recommendations for revisions are expected to be made to the DfT in the first quarter of 2024. There is a strong industry desire for these changes to be published quickly and ISCC will continue to provide oversight of any significant divergence from either GB or EU practice.
Making standards is a highly collaborative effort. On behalf of ISCC, thank you to all those across the rail industry, as well as those in RSSB, for their significant and impactful engagement in developing standards in the UK and across the world.
Cliff CorkIndependent ChairIndustry Standards Coordination Committee
