The European Commission today adopted new legislation facilitating the authorisation of personnel carriages that can be integrated in freight trains. This means that in military transports, personnel will be able to travel with their equipment and ammunition across all of Europe’s main rail networks.
Today’s adopted specifications are the first set of uniform rail design standards for dual-use, defence and security capabilities as called for by the recently adopted White Paper for European Defence and the Preparedness Union Strategy.
For the first time, the Commission provides specifications for the compatibility between rail vehicles and trackside train detection systems. This further harmonises safety and ensures the carriages’ interoperability with rail infrastructure, while providing a high degree of flexibility for the interior design. Therefore, this unique authorisation for EU wide “go-everywhere” carriages can be used for vehicles serving a variety of purposes besides military mobility, including civil protection, disaster response and railway network activities linked to track maintenance and early response to rail accidents.
This is a milestone in the simplification of the authorisation process, as such EU-wide “go-everywhere” authorisations are now granted via a streamlined process by the European Agency for Railways (ERA), no longer relying on the assessments of each Member State’s administration.
