Approval of the new European authorisation regulation
Fourth railway package
Brussels: on 16 November 2017 the Railway Interoperability and Safety Committee (RISC) gave its approval to the new European authorisation regulation for rail vehicles.
The way has thus been cleared for the introduction of an authorisation procedure which is valid Europe-wide, and the first step toward a uniform European railway market has been taken. The new authorisation regulation is one of the central documents and issues from the technical pillar of the fourth railway package of the EU. As from the summer of 2019, there will therefore be an authorisation procedure for rail vehicles which is harmonised throughout Europe (including Switzerland) and aims in particular to reduce the complexity, duration and cost of administrative authorisation procedures (said reduction amounting to an estimated 500 million EUR by 2025).
According to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), the final version of this new regulation, after almost 2 years of intensive negotiation with all the EU member states and railway protagonists, has met with considerable acclaim and is to that extent being hailed as a milestone for the attractiveness, profitability and competitive strength of the European rail industry. The European Commission is expected to publish the finished legal text before the end of this year.
We will have more information on this for you in the near future.
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