Page 53 - RFC Rhine-Alpine_Annual Report 2016

CORRIDOR RHINE-ALPINE – Annual Report 2016 Regulatory Authorities
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Regarding other cross-border projects including projects on RFC ScanMed, information is given regularly to the NSA Steering Committee.
Short-distance interoperability
At the end of 2013, the NSAs of RFC Rhine-Alpine started their discussions on short-distance interoperability and performed a study to determine the current state of play. The analysis covered the issues of safety certificate part B, vehicle authorisation and train driving licences. Already in 2014 and again in 2015, the Executive Board was informed about the outcome of the analysis showing that most issues were covered by existing bilateral or multilat- eral agreements e. g. cross acceptance of vehicle authori- sations and driving licence
However, the RUs claimed that the cross-border opera- tions between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands were still hindered by too by excessive requirements regarding language skills of train drivers, safety certificate part B, vehicle authorisation. The NSAs have taken the statements on board in order to analyse if derogations or alternative approaches are possible.
In 2016, the NSAs have taken the lead in the comple- tion of a document (Excel sheet) created by RFC Rhine- Alpine which gives an overview of the requirements to be fulfilled in each of the two countries of a cross-border section including language skills of train drivers, safety certificates, vehicle authorisation as well as operational rules such as tail light requirements and braking sheets. This information also includes the requirements for short- distance cross-border traffic. The work on the document is still ongoing. The NSAs seek to complete the document for all cross-border sections on RFC Rhine-Alpine and RFC ScanMed.
Contribution to ERA Control Group
Since 2008 the NSA Corridor Group has participated in the ERA Control Group, which is in charge of steering the devel- opment and improvement of the SRS (system requirement specification) of ERTMS. The involvement was initiated by the NSA Corridor Group as the NSAs were not represented in the Control Group previously. However, the NSA Corri- dor Group was convinced that an effective contribution of the NSAs to the development of the ERTMS specification could help to consider safety-related aspects adequately in order to prevent that a not fully interoperable system might
require national solutions to ensure safety. The contribution of the NSAs also reflects the responsibilities borne by the safety authorities. Furthermore, the early participation of the NSAs supports the overall implementation of ERTMS on the RFC Rhine-Alpine and will accelerate the authorisation process.
VI. Objectives and milestones for 2017
The work programme 2017 of the NSA Working Group includes the following tasks:
To apply the agreed process in actual projects: The process described in the guideline should be applied in actual projects; furthermore, it is also planned to ana- lyse infrastructure projects;
To perform a case study applying the guideline (to be practice-oriented but independent of projects);
Testing (contribution to WG under the stakeholder plat- form, follow-up of the TSI and guideline changes);
APIS due to software modifications: a workshop of the NSA WG dedicated to software changes will be held in May 2017;
Overall/system safety case and integration of CCS into other systems including operation;
Compliance test.