The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006

Citation and commencement1

Interpretation and application2

• F110“2011 EU ECM Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EU) No 445/2011 on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance for freight wagons and amending Regulation (EC) No 653/2007 as it had effect or as it has effect in EU law, as the context dictates;

• “2019 EU ECM Regulation”, save in the expression “retained 2019 EU ECM Regulation”, means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/779 laying down detailed provisions on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance of vehicles pursuant to Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulation (EU) No 445/2011 as it had effect or as it has effect in EU law, as the context dictates;

• “accident” means an unwanted or unintended sudden event or a specific chain of such events which have harmful consequences; accidents are divided into the following categories: collisions, derailments, level-crossing accidents, accidents to persons caused by rolling stock in motion, fires and others;

• “building operation” means the—

  1. a

     construction, structural alteration, repair or maintenance of a building and “maintenance” shall include repointing, redecoration and external cleaning of the structure;

  2. b

     demolition of a building; or

  3. c

     preparation for and laying the foundation of an intended building,

  but does not include any operation which is a work of engineering construction;

• “bus” means a motor vehicle which is designed or adapted to travel along roads and to carry more than eight passengers but which is not a tramcar;

• “cableway installation” means an installation made up of several components that—

  1. a

     is used or intended to be used for the purpose of providing an operational system for carrying persons in vehicles, on chairs or by towing devices;

  2. b

     uses cables positioned along the line of travel to provide suspension or traction or both; and

  3. c

     is one of the following—

     1. i

        cable car (including a gondola and chair lift) where the cabins or chairs are lifted or displaced by one or more carrier cables;

     2. ii

        drag lift, where users with appropriate equipment are dragged by means of a cable; or

     3. iii

        funicular railway or other installation with vehicles mounted on wheels or on other suspension devices where traction is provided by one or more cables;

  but does not include cable operated tramways, rack railways or lifts;

• M2M3“carriageway” has the same meaning as in the Highways Act 1980 , or in Scotland the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 ;

• F30“certification body” F111means a body responsible for the certification of entities in charge of maintenance, on the basis of the criteria in Part 3 of Schedule 10 ;

• F112“common safety methods” (“CSMs”) means—

  1. a

     Commission Regulation (EU) No 1158/2010 on a common safety method for assessing conformity with the requirements for obtaining railway safety certificates;

  2. b

     Commission Regulation (EU) No 1169/2010 on a common safety method for assessing conformity with the requirements for obtaining a railway safety authorisation;

  3. c

     Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/761 establishing common safety methods for supervision by national safety authorities after the issue of a single safety certificate or a safety authorisation;

  4. d

     Commission Regulation (EU) No 1078/2012 on a common safety method for monitoring to be applied by railway undertakings, infrastructure managers after receiving a safety certificate or safety authorisation and by entities in charge of maintenance; and

  5. e

     Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 402/2012 on a common safety method for risk evaluation and assessment,

  as they have effect in Great Britain;

• F113“common safety targets” (“CSTs”) means the minimum safety levels that must be reached by the mainline railway system, or parts of the mainline railway system, expressed in risk categories as defined in paragraph 2 of Schedule 11;

• “competent person” means, except for the purposes of Part 4, a person who—

  1. a

     has sufficient skills, knowledge, experience and resources to undertake the safety verification in relation to which he is appointed;

  2. b

     has not borne such responsibility in relation to any of the matters he has to consider in undertaking that safety verification that might compromise his objectivity; and

  3. c

     is sufficiently independent of a management system, or a part thereof, which has borne responsibility for any of the matters he has to consider in undertaking the safety verification, to ensure that he will be objective in carrying out the safety verification for which he is appointed;

• F139“cross-border service” means a service for the carriage of passengers or goods by way of the tunnel system;

• “cross-border UK-issued ECM certificate” means a certificate issued in the United Kingdom to an entity in charge of maintenance by an accredited or recognised body or by a safety authority in accordance with the retained 2019 EU ECM Regulation;

• F120...

• F31...

• F31...

• F88“the Directive” means Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on safety on the Community’s railways and amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification as amended by—

  1. a

     the Interoperability Directive;

  2. b

     Directive 2008/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community’s railways;

  3. c

     Commission Directive 2009/149/EC amending Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards Common Safety Indicators and common methods to calculate accident costs; and

  4. d

     Commission Directive 2014/88/EU amending Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards common safety indicators and common methods of calculating accident costs;

• F114“EU ECM certificate” means a certificate issued to an entity in charge of maintenance in accordance with the 2011 EU ECM Regulation or the 2019 EU ECM Regulation as may be applicable;

• F115...

• “engineering possession” means a section of track which is closed to normal traffic and where the closure is for the purpose of carrying out maintenance which shall include any repair alteration, reconditioning, examination or testing of infrastructure;

• F6“entity in charge of maintenance” means an entity in charge of maintenance of a vehicle, and includes a transport undertaking, an infrastructure manager or a keeper;

• F149...

• M4“factory” means a factory within the meaning of section 175 of the Factories Act 1961 and premises to which section 123(1) or (2) or 125(1) of that Act applies;

• F32“freight wagon” means a non-self-propelled-vehicle designed for the purpose of transporting freight or other materials to be used for activities such as construction or infrastructure maintenance;

• “guided bus system” means a system of transport, used wholly or mainly for the carriage of passengers, that employs buses which for some or all of the time when they are in operation—

  1. a

     travel along roads; and

  2. b

     are guided (whether while on the road or at other times) by means of—

     1. i

        apparatus, a structure or other device which is fixed and not part of the bus; or

     2. ii

        a guidance system which is automatic;

• “guided transport” means a system of transport, used wholly or mainly for the carriage of passengers, employing vehicles which for some or all of the time when they are in operation are guided by means of—

  1. a

     rails, beams, slots, guides or other apparatus, structures or devices which are fixed and not part of the vehicle; or

  2. b

     a guidance system which is automatic;

• F89“harbour” area has the same meaning as in the Dangerous Goods in Harbour Areas Regulations 2016;

• F33...

• F121...

• “infrastructure” means fixed assets used for the operation of a transport system which shall include, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing—

  1. a

     its permanent way or other means of guiding or supporting vehicles;

  2. b

     any station; and

  3. c

     plant used for signalling or exclusively for supplying electricity for operational purposes to the transport system;

• “infrastructure manager” means the person who—

  1. a

     in relation to infrastructure other than a station, is responsible for developing and maintaining that infrastructure or, in relation to a station, the person who is responsible for managing and operating that station, except that it shall not include any person solely on the basis that he carries out the construction of that infrastructure or station or its maintenance, repair or alteration; and

  2. b

     manages and uses that infrastructure or station, or permits it to be used, for the operation of a vehicle;

• F7“Interoperability Directive” means Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17^th June 2008 on the interoperability of the rail system within the Community (Recast);

• “Interoperability Regulations” means the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations F252011;

• F8“keeper” means the person who, being the owner of a vehicle or having the right to use it, exploits the vehicle as a means of transport and is registered as being the keeper in the National Vehicle Register;

• “mainline application” means an application for—

  1. a

     a safety certificate or an amended safety certificate; or

  2. b

     a safety authorisation or an amended safety authorisation,

  made in relation to an operation on the mainline railway;

• F34“mainline railway” means any railway except for any railway or part of a railway—

  1. a

     that the F66Office of Rail and Road determines in accordance with regulation 2A (determination of exclusion from the mainline railway) falls within one of the categories listed in paragraph (1) of that regulation; or

  2. b

     which is privately owned infrastructure that exists solely for use by the infrastructure owner for its own freight operations;

• “mainline railway system” means the mainline railway and the management and operation of the mainline railway as a whole;

• F9“maintenance file” means the written file that contains all the technical and management information that is necessary to carry out the maintenance of a vehicle;

• F9“maintenance rules” means any rules, applicable F35in Great Britain, which set out requirements relating to the maintenance of vehicles;

• “material” includes plant;

• “military establishment” means an establishment intended for use for naval, military or air force purposes or for the purposes of the Department of the Secretary of State responsible for defence;

• M5“mine” has the meaning assigned to it by section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 ;

• “national safety rules” means any legislation and other requirements—

  1. a

     applicable F36in Great Britain; and

  2. b

     F37which contain requirements (including common operating rules) relating to railway safety which are imposed on more than one transport undertaking operating on the mainline railway;

  except that where the requirements in sub-paragraph (b) consist of common operating rules of the mainline railway it shall not include such rules which regulate matters which are F131covered by an NTSN;

• F109“NTSN” means a National Technical Specification Notice published by the Secretary of State pursuant to regulation 3B of the Interoperability Regulations;

• F10“National Vehicle Register” means the register of vehicles authorised in Great Britain, required by regulation F2636 of the Interoperability Regulations;

• “new” in relation to regulations 5 and 6 means new to the transport system in question;

• “non-mainline application” means an application for—

  1. a

     a safety certificate or an amended safety certificate; or

  2. b

     a safety authorisation or an amended safety authorisation,

  made in relation to an operation on a transport system other than the mainline railway;

• “operator of last resort” means a transport operator appointed by the Secretary of State to provide transport services in accordance with section 30 of the Railways Act 1993;

• F11“owner”, in relation to a vehicle, means any person who has an estate or interest in, or a right over, that vehicle, and whose permission is needed before another may use it;

• “Part A of a safety certificate” means that part of a safety certificate certifying the matters set out in regulation 7(4)(b)(i) and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “Part B of a safety certificate” means that part of a safety certificate certifying the matters set out in regulation 7(4)(b)(ii) and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• F38“placed in service” means when a vehicle or infrastructure, having been constructed, upgraded or renewed, is first operated in the provision of a transport service, and in ascertaining when this takes place no regard shall be had to any trials or testing that take place to the vehicle or infrastructure, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• M6“quarry” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 3 of the Quarries Regulations 1999 ;

• “railway” means a system of transport employing parallel rails which—

  1. a

     provide support and guidance for vehicles carried on flanged wheels; and

  2. b

     form a track which either is of a gauge of at least 350 millimetres or crosses a carriageway (whether or not on the same level),

  but does not include a tramway;

• F122“Recast Safety Directive” means Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and the Council on railway safety (recast);

• “relevant infrastructure manager” means the infrastructure manager for any infrastructure used in relation to the operation in question;

• “relevant infrastructure or vehicle” means any new or altered—

  1. a

     infrastructure; or

  2. b

     vehicle,

  falling within regulation 5(4) or 6(4) and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “responsible person” means in relation to any relevant infrastructure or vehicle, any person who—

  1. a

     has contracted with another person for the manufacture or construction by that other person of that infrastructure or vehicle; or

  2. b

     manufactures or constructs that infrastructure or vehicle for his own use, or for sale to, or use by, another person but not where he is contracted to do so by a person falling under sub-paragraph (a),

  and includes an authorised representative established in Great Britain of such a person.

• F140“retained 2019 EU ECM Regulation” means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/779 laying down detailed provisions on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance of vehicles pursuant to Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulation (EU) No 445/2011, as it has effect in the UK after IP completion day;

• “risk” means in Parts 1 and 2 a risk to the safety of a person;

• “road” means in the definition of ” “guided bus system” and “tramway” –

  1. a

     in England and Wales, any length of highway or of any other road to which the public has access, and includes bridges over which a road passes; and

  2. b

     in Scotland, has the same meaning as in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;

• M7“rolling stock” has the meaning in section 83(1) of the Railways Act 1993 ;

• M8“ROTS” means the Railways and Other Transport Systems (Approval of Works, Plant and Equipment) Regulations 1994 ;

• “safety authorisation” means a safety authorisation issued by the F66Office of Rail and Road in accordance with regulation 10 or 12;

• F116“safety authority”, save for in the expression “safety authority for the tunnel system”, means—

  1. a

     as regards Great Britain, the Office of Rail and Road M22; or

  2. b

     as regards Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure established by article 3(1) of the Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 M23 and renamed by section 1(6) of the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 M24;

• F117“safety authority for the tunnel system” means the Intergovernmental Commission as defined in section 49(1) of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 M25;

• “safety certificate” means a safety certificate issued by the F66Office of Rail and Road in accordance with regulation 7 or 9;

• “safety management system” means the organisation and arrangements established by a transport operator to ensure the safe management of its operation;

• “significant safety risk” means, in relation to new or altered infrastructure or a new or altered vehicle the design or construction of which incorporates significant changes compared to any infrastructure or vehicle already in use on the transport system, the capability of significantly increasing an existing safety risk or creating a significant safety risk to—

  1. a

     passengers on the transport system in question; or

  2. b

     M9members of the public on roads and any other location where the transport system in question operates and to which the public have access (including a place to which the public has access only on making a payment), except a location which is a crossing subject to an Order made under section 1 of the Level Crossings Act 1983 ;

• “station” means a passenger stop, station or terminal on a transport system but does not include any permanent way or other means of guiding or supporting vehicles or plant used for signalling or exclusively for supplying electricity for operational purposes to a transport system;

• F12“subsystem” has the same meaning as in the Interoperability F118Regulations ;

• F138...

• “train” includes any rolling stock;

• “tramway” means a system of transport used wholly or mainly for the carriage of passengers—

  1. a

     which employs parallel rails which—

     1. i

        provide support and guidance for vehicles carried on flanged wheels;

     2. ii

        are laid wholly or partly along a road or in any other place to which the public has access (including a place to which the public has access only on making a payment); and

  2. b

     on any part of which the permitted maximum speed is such as to enable the driver to stop a vehicle in the distance he can see to be clear ahead ;

• “transport operator” means any transport undertaking or infrastructure manager;

• “transport system” means a railway, a tramway, or any other system using guided transport where that other system is used wholly or mainly for the carriage of passengers but a transport system does not include—

  1. a

     a guided bus system;

  2. b

     a trolley vehicle system ;

  3. c

     any part of a transport system—

     1. i

        within a F90... harbour area or which is part of a factory, mine or quarry;

     2. ii

        used solely for the purpose of carrying out a building operation or work of engineering construction;

     3. iii

        within a maintenance or goods depot;

     4. iv

        within a siding except where Part 4 applies; or

     5. v

        which is within a military establishment;

  4. d

     any fairground equipment;

  5. e

     any cableway installation; or

  6. f

     any transport system where the track forms a gauge of less than 350mm except where such a track crosses a carriageway (whether or not on the same level),

  except where the transport system in question forms part of the mainline railway;

• “transport undertaking” means any person who operates a vehicle in relation to any infrastructure but shall not include a person who operates a vehicle solely within an engineering possession;

• “trolley vehicle system” means a system of transport by vehicles constructed or adapted for use on roads without rails under electric power transmitted to them by overhead wires (whether or not there is in addition a source of power on board the vehicles);

• F119“tunnel system” has the same meaning as in section 1(7) of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987;

• “UK-issued ECM certificate”, save in the expression “cross-border UK-issued ECM certificate”, means a certificate issued in the United Kingdom to an entity in charge of maintenance by an accredited or recognised body or by a safety authority in accordance with Schedule 10;

• F13“vehicle”—

  1. (a)

     includes a mobile traction unit; and

  2. (b)

     in respect of the mainline railway, means a vehicle that runs on its own wheels on railway lines of a gauge of at least 350 millimetres, with or without traction, and is composed of one or more structural and functional subsystems or parts of such subsystems;

• “work of engineering construction” means the—

  1. a

     construction of any line or siding otherwise than on an existing transport system; and

  2. b

     construction, structural alteration, repair (including repointing and repainting) or demolition of any tunnel, bridge or viaduct except where carried on upon a transport system; and

• “writing” apart from its usual meaning includes any text transmitted using electronic communications that is received, or accessible by the person to whom it is sent, in legible form.

F28Determination of exclusion from the mainline railway2A

Use of infrastructure on the mainline railway3

Use of infrastructure on other transport systems4

Safety management system for the mainline railway5

Safety management system for other transport systems6

Safety certificate7

Amended safety certificate8

Further safety certificate9

F106Format for safety certificates and applications9A

Safety authorisation10

Amended safety authorisation11

Further safety authorisation12

Notice of changes by holder of a safety certificate or a safety authorisation13

Direction to apply for an amended safety certificate or safety authorisation14

Revocation of safety certificate15

Revocation of safety authorisation16

General provisions relating to safety certificates and safety authorisations17

Notification to the European Railway Agency regarding safety certificates and safety authorisations relating to the mainline railwayF9618

F4Maintenance of vehicles on the mainline railway18A

F107Common safety targets18B

Risk assessment19

Annual safety reports20

Sending, issuing, and keeping of documents and making them available for public inspection21

Co-operation22

Interpretation and application of Part 423

• “assessor” means any person who is competent to make an impartial and objective assessment of another person's competence or fitness to carry out safety critical work, and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “controller of safety critical work” means any person controlling the carrying out of safety critical work on a transport system or in relation to a vehicle used on a transport system;

• “fitness” means physical and mental fitness, and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “installation” includes the installation, examination or testing of components;

• “maintenance” includes repair work, reconditioning, examination, testing or alteration;

• “operator” means any person carrying on an undertaking which includes a transport system or any part of it or the provision of transport services on such a system;

• “safety critical task” means—

  1. a

     in relation to a vehicle used on a transport system—

     1. i

        driving, dispatching or any other activity which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of that vehicle;

     2. ii

        signalling, and signalling operations, the operation of level crossing equipment, receiving and relaying of communications or any other activity which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of that vehicle;

     3. iii

        coupling or uncoupling;

     4. iv

        installation of components, other than where the installation of those components is subject to supervision and checking by a safety critical worker or a controller of safety critical work;

     5. v

        maintenance, other than where the carrying out of that maintenance is subject to supervision and checking by a safety critical worker or a controller of safety critical work; or

     6. vi

        checking that that vehicle is working properly and, where carrying goods, is correctly loaded before being used;

  2. b

     in relation to a transport system—

     1. i

        installation or maintenance of any part of it or of the telecommunications system relating to it or used in connection with it, or of the means of supplying electricity directly to that transport system or to any vehicles using it or to the telecommunications system other than where the carrying out of that task is subject to supervision and checking by a safety critical worker or a controller of safety critical work;

     2. ii

        controlling the supply of electricity directly to it or to any vehicles used on it;

     3. iii

        receiving and relaying of communications; or

     4. iv

        any person ensuring the safety of any persons working on or near to the track, whether or not the persons working on or near to the track are carrying out safety critical work;

  3. c

     in relation to training, any practical training or the supervision of any such training in any of the tasks set out in sub-paragraphs (a) to (b),

  which could significantly affect the health or safety of persons on a transport system;

• “safety critical work” means any safety critical task carried out by any person in the course of their work F16...on or in relation to a transport system and related expressions shall be construed accordingly; F17...

• “telecommunications system” means any telecommunications system provided by a transport operator or its associated equipment, which is capable of controlling or affecting the movement of a vehicle, or which is provided by a transport operator for purposes which include calling the emergency servicesF18; and

• “work” includes voluntary work.

Competence and fitness24

Fatigue25

Co-operation requirements for safety critical work26

Appeals27

Offences28

Transitional provisions and savings29

Exemptions30

Defence of due diligence31

Amendment of ROTS32

Consequential amendments33

Revocation34

F5Review34A