Fourth Railway Package

UNIFE is and has always been, a strong supporter of the Fourth Railway Package’s Technical Pillar. Its implementation is of paramount importance for the European rail supply industry’s future competitiveness.

Its full implementation would remove the remaining technical barriers to the Single European Rail Area by:

• Significantly reducing costs and administrative burden;
• Implementing a new harmonised framework for vehicle authorisation that saves businesses from having to file multiple costly applications for vehicle authorisations and safety certificates for operation beyond one single member state;
• Creating a ‘one-stop shop’ IT tool which will act as a single-entry point for all such applications and using easy, transparent and consistent procedures;
• Introducing a renewed framework for railway safety committed to promoting safety culture and a harmonised approach to safety certification;
• Harmonising the implementation of ERTMS with a prior check that the ERTMS trackside technical solutions envisaged are fully compliant with the relevant TSIs;
• Reducing the large number of national rules and make them more transparent;
• Enhancing the role of ERA as a European Authorising Entity.

More background information can be found in the Guide on the Fourth Railway Package Technical Pillar produced by the Group of Representative Bodies.

As the official Representative Body for the European rail supply industry, UNIFE has attended all ERA working groups and workshops on the development of the 4RP legislation. It is also a member of the EC’s Expert Group on the 4RP, which has provided the sector’s consultation to the EC’s Railway Interoperability and Safety Committee (RISC) where the Member States finalise and vote on the Implementing Regulations.

Since 2016, UNIFE has worked in close cooperation with the ERA, the European Commission and the Group of Representative Bodies in the development of the European regulations and guidelines outlining the new vehicle authorisation process under the Fourth Railway Package, particularly the practical arrangements for the railway vehicle authorisation ((EU) 2018/545), development of the OSS IT Tool and the 2019 amendments to the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs). Significant efforts have been made by the and their experts within the UNIFE technical groups.

In this enhanced capacity, ERA has become the European Authorising Entity for vehicle authorisation and safety certification, ensuring uniform implementation of the EU framework. The European rail supply industry expects the Fourth Railway Package to provide a simplified, transparent, quicker and cheaper vehicle authorisation process, resulting in the stable management of vehicles and vehicle types. A harmonised European authorisation process will give certainty and consistency of requirements across the EU, with less duplication of checks, testing and administration. Further benefits are expected with the vast reduction of Notified National Technical Rules undertaken as part of the Fourth Railway Package programme.