Applicants must follow a common framework and get authorisation from us before putting new, upgraded or renewed infrastructure or rolling stock into use.
What is interoperability all about?
The Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011 (RIR) apply to new, upgraded or renewed railway subsystems. Subsystems include infrastructure elements like track, energy supply and signalling systems, and rolling stock.
Any new subsystem, or one that has undergone a major change, must be authorised before it is first put into use. RIR sets out the requirements that must be met by the applicant before an authorisation can be granted.
We are the ‘safety authority’ with responsibility for the arrangements for enforcement of RIR, and we authorise subsystems.
RIR is intended to support the railway to function as one modern integrated system. It does this by requiring rail equipment to meet common baseline requirements, covering technical compatibility, reliability and availability, accessibility, environmental protection, health, and safety. These are referred to as essential requirements for interoperability.
RIR seeks to progressively improve Britain’s railway in the following ways:
- more consistently reliable, efficient and accessible services for rail customers
- reduced technical barriers for the railway to adapt to meet changing customer demand for passenger and freight services
- increased choice of potential rolling stock and service routes for operators
- reduced industry production, delivery and maintenance costs through use of standardised products and economies of scale
- an open and competitive supply chain for rail projects
- increased potential for international passenger and international and domestic freight services
- reduced environmental impact
RIR originally transposed European Directive 2008/57/EC on the interoperability of the rail system within the Community.
Following our departure from the EU, Great Britain (GB) is no longer bound by EU Directives. RIR continues to apply in GB, and limited changes have been made to the Regulations to ensure they work effectively in a GB context.
Different arrangements apply in Northern Ireland, where the Department for Infrastructure and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland have regulatory responsibilities.
Approach to authorisations
We have developed this guidance document to set out our approach to interoperability authorisations under RIR, formalise our expectations, and provide a framework to facilitate the submission of authorisation applications of a high standard.
This includes the use of stage gates during the lifecycle of a project.
The guidance should provide confidence to applicants that authorisation will not be a barrier to meeting project timescales and will help spread workload associated with authorisation applications more evenly across the project lifecycle.
It will also reduce the likelihood of authorisations being rejected due to incomplete or substandard applications.
National Technical Specification Notices (NTSNs)
Anyone seeking an authorisation to place infrastructure or rail vehicles into service must meet minimum specifications linked to the six essential requirements set out in RIR.
The essential requirements are:
- technical compatibility
- reliability and availability
- accessibility
- environmental protection
- health, and safety
National Technical Specification Notices (NTSNs) set these minimum specifications for the different subsystems in use on GB’s rail system.
NTSNs also set rules for third party assessment of conformity to the essential requirements, the placing of interoperability constituents on the GB market, and operation and maintenance of GB railway subsystems.
NTSNs were created for EU Exit to take the place of EU Regulations called Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs). TSIs applied in Britain until 31 December 2020. Under the terms of the Windsor Framework, TSIs continue to apply in Northern Ireland.
The list of current NTSNs applicable in Great Britain is published by the Secretary of State on the Department for Transport’s website. They may be updated from time to time and you should ensure that you check the latest versions.
National Technical Rules (NTRs)
National Technical Rules provide additional requirements to NTSNs to ensure that the essential requirements specified in RIR are met.
RIR requires compliance with applicable NTRs for new, renewed or upgraded structural subsystems (rail vehicles or infrastructure) before obtaining an authorisation to place into service.
The list of current NTRs applicable in Great Britain is published by the Secretary of State on DfT's webpages. They may be updated from time to time and you should ensure that you check the latest versions on the DfT website.
Further information on NTRs can be found on RSSB’s website: National Technical Rules.
NTRs replace notified national technical rules that applied in GB prior to when the UK left the EU.
Relationship between rail safety and interoperability
Conformity with obligations under RIR 2011, including conformity with NTSNs, does not guarantee that safety obligations under the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 ROGS), the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, or other legislation related to rail safety are met.
Some NTSN specifications are intended to fulfil the safety ‘essential requirement’ of interoperability, ensuring a common baseline of safe design. However, meeting these requirements alone does not mean that a railway subsystem is safe for its intended use.
Rail safety law requires entities making significant changes to the railway to apply the Common Safety Method for Risk Evaluation and Assessment, and in all cases to identify hazards and control risk as far as is reasonably practicable.
This may identify that additional or alternative measures to the safety ‘essential requirements’ are needed to ensure the safety of the subsystem.
How to make an application for authorisation
The applicant must seek an authorisation before placing the structural subsystem into service.
We grant the authorisation for placing into service (APIS). An application for APIS should be made in respect of a structural subsystem if it is required as set out in RIR.
This requires anyone wishing to put a structural subsystem into use to firstly obtain an authorisation from us, or to obtain agreement from DfT that an authorisation is not required.
There are circumstances where an authorisation is not required but applicants may nonetheless seek a voluntary authorisation or a voluntary re-authorisation, should they wish to do so.
RIR requires the applicant to make the application to ORR in writing accompanied by a technical file, and a UK declaration of verification, and sets out what must be included in these.
There is no mandatory time limit for us to determine an application or authorisation; however, applicants should make provision in their project timescales for our assessment to take four weeks.
We encourage applicants to engage early in the process with us, as this may reduce the likelihood of problems coming to light later, leading to delays in authorisation.
Enforcement
As enforcing authority for the Interoperability regulations we will use the principles established in our HSWA enforcement policy statement to ensure compliance with these statutory requirements.
Wagon NTSN - List of fully approved composite brake blocks for international transport
Article 10 of the Wagon NTSN sets out that we shall publish on our website the list of composite brake blocks used in international transport that are fully approved in the UK. This has been issued as Table G4 of GMGN 2688 - Guidance on Designing Rail Freight Wagons for use on the GB Mainline Railway.
The method of approving new ‘K’, ‘L’, or ‘LL’ brake blocks for UK use is defined within Appendix H: Dynamometer Testing of Friction Materials of GMRT 2045 - Compatibility Requirements for Braking Systems of Rail Vehicles.