Description of BS EN 15954-1:2013 2013

1.1 General

This European Standard specifies the technical requirements to minimise the specific railway hazards of trailers and associated equipment, which can arise during the commissioning, the operation and the maintenance of trailers when carried out in accordance with the specification given by the manufacturer or his authorised representative. This European Standard applies to trailers that are not intended to interact with operating signalling and control systems. Other machines are dealt with in other European Standards; see Annex E.

These trailers are not designed or intended for operating signalling and control systems and are only intended to work and run under special operating conditions specifically designated by the infrastructure manager.

These trailers are not intended to be vehicles as defined in the Interoperability Directive and are not permitted to run on the railway lines open to normal traffic. If this is required, they will need to be authorised or placed into service as set out in the Interoperability Directive 2008/57/EC.

Part 1 of this European Standard deals with the technical railway requirements; Part 2 deals with requirements for the trailer to be declared conformant by the manufacturer, except in the case of trailers classified in Annex 4 of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC which require conformity check in conjunction with a notified body.

Additional requirements can apply for running on infrastructures with narrow gauge or broad gauge lines, lines of tramways, railways utilising other than adhesion between the rail and rail wheels, and underground infrastructures.

This European Standard is also applicable to trailers and associated equipment that in working configuration are partly supported on the ballast or the formation.

Where two or more trailers are used together to transport loads in a fixed formation, e.g. where a metal container is fixed to two small trailers, the whole system is treated as a trailer for the purposes of compliance with the requirements of this European Standard.

This European Standard does not apply to the following:

• requirements for quality of the work or performance of the trailer;

• specific requirements established by the railway infrastructure operator for the use of trailers, which will be the subject of negotiation between the manufacturer and the operator;

• separate machines temporarily mounted on the trailer.

This European Standard does not establish the additional requirements for the following:

• operation subject to special rules, e.g. potentially explosive atmospheres;

• hazards due to natural causes, e.g. earthquake, lightning, flooding, etc;

• working methods;

• operation in severe working conditions requiring special measures, e.g. work in tunnels or in cuttings, extreme environmental conditions (below – 20 °C or above + 40 °C), corrosive environment, contaminating environments, strong magnetic fields;

• hazards due to errors in software;

• hazards occurring when used to handle suspended loads which may swing freely.

The intended use of these trailers may have operational parameters specified by each infrastructure manager; for example, the maximum speed allowed for these trailers is likely to be limited by the infrastructure manager; compliance with the clauses of this standard does not confer permission for trailers to travel at this speed. These trailers will not be allowed on a track open to normal railway traffic.

1.2 Validity of this European Standard

This European Standard applies to all trailers, which are ordered one year after the publication date by CEN of this standard.

About BSI

BSI Group, also known as the British Standards Institution is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to businesses.