| 26.5.2016 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | L 138/102 |
DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/798 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 11 May 2016
on railway safety
(recast)
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3),
Whereas:
| (1) | Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) has been substantially amended. Since further amendments are to be made, it should be recast in the interests of clarity. |
| (2) | Directive 2004/49/EC established a common regulatory framework for railway safety through harmonisation of the content of safety rules, the safety certification of railway undertakings, the tasks and roles of the national safety authorities and the investigation of accidents. Nevertheless, in order to pursue efforts to further develop a single European railway area, it is necessary to thoroughly revise Directive 2004/49/EC. |
| (3) | Metros, trams and other light rail systems are subject in many Member States to local technical requirements and are excluded from the scope of Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5). In order to facilitate the implementation of this Directive and of Directive (EU) 2016/797, both Directives should have the same scope. Therefore, such local systems should be excluded from the scope of this Directive. |
| (4) | Insofar as some concepts referred to in this Directive may be usefully applied to metros and other local systems, Member States should be permitted to decide, without prejudice to the scope of this Directive, to apply certain provisions of this Directive that they consider to be appropriate. In such cases, Member States should be allowed not to apply obligations such as the notification of national rules and reporting. |
| (5) | Safety levels in the Union rail system are generally high especially when compared to road transport. Railway safety should be generally maintained and, when practicable, continuously improved, taking into account technical and scientific progress, and the development of Union and international law. Priority should be given to the prevention of accidents. The impact of human factors should also be taken into consideration. |
| (6) | If a Member State introduces a higher level of safety, it should ensure that the rule adopted does not create a barrier to interoperability or result in discrimination. |
| (7) | The main actors in the Union rail system, infrastructure managers and railway undertakings should bear full responsibility for the safety of the system, each for their own part. Whenever appropriate, they should cooperate in implementing risk control measures. |
| (8) | Without prejudice to the responsibility of infrastructure managers and railway undertakings for developing and improving railway safety, the other actors, such as entities in charge of maintenance, manufacturers, carriers, consignors, consignees, fillers, unfillers, loaders, unloaders, maintenance suppliers, keepers, service providers and contracting entities, should not be precluded from assuming responsibility for their products, services and processes. Each actor in the Union rail system should be responsible, vis-à-vis the other actors, for complete and truthful communication of all relevant information to check whether vehicles are fit to run. This concerns, in particular, information on the status and history of a given vehicle, maintenance files, traceability of loading operations, and consignment notes. |
| (9) | Each railway undertaking, infrastructure manager and entity in charge of maintenance should ensure that its contractors and other parties implement risk control measures. To that end, each railway undertaking, infrastructure manager and entity in charge of maintenance should apply the methods for monitoring set out in the common safety methods (‘CSMs’). Their contractors should apply this process through contractual arrangements. In view of the fact that such arrangements are an essential part of the safety management system of railway undertakings and infrastructure managers, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers should disclose their contractual arrangements on request of the European Union Agency for Railways (‘the Agency’) established by Regulation (EU) 2016/796 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) or the national safety authority in the context of supervision activities. |
| (10) | Member States should promote a culture of mutual trust, confidence and learning in which the staff of railway undertakings and infrastructure managers are encouraged to contribute to the development of safety while confidentiality is ensured. |
| (11) | Common safety targets (‘CSTs’) and CSMs have been gradually introduced to ensure that safety is maintained at a high level and, when necessary and where reasonably practicable, improved. They should provide tools for the assessment of the safety and performance of operators at Union level as well as in the Member States. Common safety indicators (‘CSIs’) have been established in order to assess whether systems comply with the CSTs and to facilitate the monitoring of railway safety performance. |
| (12) | National rules, which are often based on national technical standards, are being gradually replaced by rules based on common standards, established by CSTs, CSMs and technical specifications for interoperability (‘TSIs’). In order to eliminate the obstacles to interoperability, the volume of national rules, including operating rules, should be reduced as a consequence of extending the scope of the TSIs to the whole of the Union rail system and of closing open points in the TSIs. For that purpose, Member States should keep their system of national rules updated, delete obsolete rules and inform the Commission and the Agency thereof without delay. |
| (13) | National rules should be drafted and published in such a way that any potential user of a national network can understand them. However, such rules often refer to other documents such as national standards, European standards, international standards or other technical specifications which might be partly or fully protected by intellectual property rights. It is appropriate, therefore, that the obligation of publication should not apply to any documents referred to directly or indirectly in the national rule. |
| (14) | National rules often include requirements which are partly relevant for both interoperability and safety purposes. Safety being an essential requirement of Directive (EU) 2016/797, a national rule may be relevant for Directive (EU) 2016/797 and for this Directive. The distinction between the terms ‘national safety rules’ and ‘national technical rules’ as defined in Directive 2004/49/EC and Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) respectively should therefore be removed and replaced by the concept of ‘national rules’ which are to be notified under Directive (EU) 2016/797 and/or this Directive. National rules are to be notified under Directive (EU) 2016/797 mainly when they relate to the placing on the market or placing in service of structural subsystems. They should be notified under this Directive when they relate to the operation of the Union rail system, or to the specific subjects of this Directive, including the role of the actors, safety certification, safety authorisation and accident investigation. |
| (15) | In view of the gradual approach to eliminating obstacles to the interoperability of the Union rail system and of the time consequently required for the adoption of TSIs, steps should be taken to avoid a situation where Member States adopt new national rules or undertake projects that increase the diversity of the present system except in the specific situations as provided for in this Directive. The safety management system is the recognised tool for controlling risks, whereas infrastructure managers and railway undertakings are responsible for taking immediate corrective action to prevent recurrence of accidents. Member States should avoid establishing new national rules immediately after an accident, unless such new rules are required as an urgent preventive measure. |
| (16) | Train control and signalling systems play a critical role in ensuring railway safety. In this regard, the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) on the Union railway network constitutes an important contribution to improving safety levels. |
| (17) | In carrying out their duties and fulfilling their responsibilities, infrastructure managers and railway undertakings should implement a safety management system meeting Union requirements and containing common elements. Information on safety and on the implementation of the safety management system should be submitted to the Agency and to the national safety authority in the Member State concerned. |
| (18) | Through its processes, the safety management system should ensure that human capabilities and limitations and the influences on human performance are addressed by applying human factors knowledge and using recognised methods. |
| (19) | Rail freight services should also encompass the transport of dangerous goods. However, a distinction should be made |
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