Official Documents

This is the official homepage of NB-Rail Association, which supports the NB-Rail Coordination by publishing the following information and documents.

Recommendation For Use (RFU)

In accordance with the principles of (EU) 2016/797 Art 44, (EC) No 765/2008 Art R30 & R17(11) and the Blue Guide 2016 (5.2.2&5.2.4) NB-Rail Coordination Group prepares recommendations for use in conjunction with the provisions of the TSIs and (EU) 2016/797 (so called RFUs).

The text of an RFU must undergo a three-level screening process where the proposed text is drafted, reviewed and improved between technical expert level, process expert level and endorsement by all notified bodies present at the NB-Rail Coordination Group plenary meeting. As a fundamental principle, an RFU shall ensure a uniform application of the current technical provisions of the applicable legislation as established by the European Commissions by clarification, but it cannot alter any mandatory content of this applicable legislation.

Although RFU's do not require formal approval from external bodies, at all 3 levels ERA representatives are informed and their feedback is welcomed and also the regulatory committee known as the "Railway Interoperability and Safety Committee (RISC)" can comment on RFUs in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 51 of the Directive (EU) 2016/797.

RFUs are published as primary source as defined by the Blue Guide 2016 (5.2.4) on the European Community webpage https://circabc.europa.eu. RFUs are “administrative decisions” as defined by Directive (EU) 2016/797 Art 30.6 and therefore shall be applied by all notified bodies.

As this resource is by many considered as difficult to navigate, NB-Rail Association supports the NB-Rail Coordination Group to present the same RFUs also on this web page here below.

RFUs for previous versions of TSIs

These RFUs may be still applicable for ongoing projects that apply previous versions of a TSI

View previous versions here.

RFU/QC-TSI Matrix

This matrix is provided for information purpose and does not relax any party to apply the provisions/requirements as defined by the legislator:

RFU/QC-TSI Matrix

RFU Change Log after last Plenary Meeting

The following RFUs have been changed or newly published:

  • RFU-STR-022 - TESTING in the Context of TSI Conformity Assessment - Issue 07 of 13/11/2024; Update: COMPLETE UPDATE INCLUDING NEW TITLE AND SEPARATION BETWEEN EVALUATION TESTING & EVIDENCE TESTING
  • RFU-STR-011 - CONTENT OF THE NOBO-FILE AND OF THE NOBO-CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT REPORT - Issue 15 of 13/11/2024; Update: Correction of typo CLD Type 4 instead of CLD 2
  • RFU-STR-060 - DURATION OF VALIDITY OF CERTIFICATES AND ISVS  - Issue 15 of 13/11/2024; Update: Adaptation of the validity of the EC-type and design examination certificate in the scope of the TSI PRM
  • RFU-RST-026 - FREE SPACES AT END OF WAGON - Issue 04 of 13/11/2024; Update: Updates with respect to Regulation (EU) 2023/1694 amending (EU) No 321/2013 (TSI WAG)
  • RFU-RST-319 - LOAD CASES FOR TANK WAGONS  - Issue 02 of 13/11/2024; Update: ADAPTED TO TSI WAG AMENDMENT 2023/1694 INCLUDING POINT 4.2.2.2 AND 6.2.2.1 ON STRENGTH OF UNIT
  • RFU-INF-102 - TRACK COMPONENTS NOT COVERED BY CHAPTER 5 - Issue 03 of 13/11/2024; Update: Administrative update of legal reference
  • RFU-INF-105 - LEVEL TRACK CROSSINGS OPERATED FOR A SAFE CROSSING OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE - Issue 02 of 13/11/2024; Update: Administrative update of legal reference
  • RFU-ENE-903 - Content of a declaration regarding power supply - Issue 01 of 13/11/2024; New

The following RFUs moved to the historic section and applicable on for projects using not the current legal baseline:

  • RFU-PRM-054
  • RFU-PRM-077
  • RFU-RST-074

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Adopted Recommendation For Use

Subsystems infrastructure and rolling stock

Additional information

Questions & Clarification

Questions & Clarification (Q&C) to the European Commission

Frequently Asked Questions

NB-Rail publishes a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and related answers to give all stakeholders guidance at the application of TSIs and Directive (EU) 2016/797. FAQs are published as primary source as defined by the Blue Guide 2016 (5.2.4) on the European Community webpage circabc.europa.eu.

As this resource is by many considered as difficult to navigate, a number of notified bodies are co-operating to present the same FAQs also here:
Frequently Asked Questions

Documents at other sources

The official documents are also on CIRCABC and can be accessed following this procedure:

  1. Goto homepage of circa
    https://circabc.europa.eu/faces/jsp/extension/wai/navigation/container.jsp
  2. Click: "Browse categories" on the left side
  3. Click: "NB-Net - Notified Bodies Network" from the list (Interinstitutional projects)
  4. Click: "NB-Rail"
  5. Click: "Library" on the left side
  6. Click: "Public Documents"

The Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) can be found on the official webpage of ERA
https://www.era.europa.eu/activities/technical-specifications-interoperability_en

Old versions of RFUs and QCs can be found in the archive section on CIRCABC. Otherwise, they can be requested to the Technical Secretary technical-secretary@nb-rail.eu