Case Study

Railway safety in Europe

ERA, the European Railway Agency (an agency of the European Union) supports the use of accreditation by Member states to ensure interoperability on railways. Accredited conformity assessment will cover railway infrastructure and construction projects; energy; control, command and signalling; and rolling stock.

The use of accreditation is voluntary, however when a Member State decides not to use accreditation, it shall provide the European Commission and other EU Member States with all the documentary evidence necessary for the verification of the competence of the conformity assessment bodies it selects for the implementation of the Community harmonisation legislation in question.

The use of this harmonised accreditation scheme is expected to increase mutual trust amongst the relevant stakeholders.

Further information is available on the ERA website.