Vectron meets all applicable European requirements for approval

The Vectron series of locomotives has completed its certification procedure for conventional rail transport in accordance with the Technical Specification for Interoperability TSI CR LOC&PAS.

L-R: Ulrich Wiescholek, Head of Eisenbahn-Cert (EBC), and Karl-Hermann Klausecker, CEO of Siemens Locomotives and Components

The EC certificate was presented on 29 January 2014 by Ulrich Wiescholek, Head of the German notified body Eisenbahn-Cert (EBC), to Karl-Hermann Klausecker, CEO of Siemens Locomotives and Components.

“Vectron is the first electrical locomotive platform to be certified according to this specification in Europe,” said Karl-Hermann Klausecker on receiving the certificate. “The certificate enormously simplifies for us the process of national approvals with regard to the expenditure and the time required. This means we have taken another important step toward approval of the Vectron throughout Europe.”

The Vectron locomotives thus meet all standardised, pan-European technical specifications for the approval of locomotives. These specifications not only include the TSI CR LOC&PAS, but also the TSI HS RST for rolling stock of the trans-European high-speed rail system, Class 2 (vehicles with a maximum speed of between 190km/h and 250km/h), the TSI SRT (safety in rail tunnels), the TSI PRM (access for persons with restricted mobility), the noise requirements according to the TSI HS RST and the TSI NOI (rolling stock – noise) of conventional rail transport, and the TSI CCS (control, command and signalling) when using an ERTM system.

This has established the basis for obtaining the individual national approvals in Europe more easily and with considerably reduced test expenditure. At present, the approval authorities of all EU member states are aligning their national approval requirements with the TSI regulations. This means that only those national requirements that are not covered by the TSI still have to be met. These are being notified to the European Railway Agency (ERA) as National Technical Rules (NTR).

A number of customer-specific versions of the Vectron series of locomotives have already been able to obtain series approval from the German Federal Railway Authority (EBA). Thanks to the extended certification now available, all further Vectron variants pending approval at EBA can obtain continuous series approval until December 2020, after which applications can be submitted for extensions. In the case of locomotives without TSI CR LOC&PAS certification, the series approval ends in mid-2017.

The locomotives from the Vectron family are already approved for railway operation in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.