EU Agency for Railways (ERA) issues first vehicle authorisation decision

In a historic step to break down barriers in Europe, a vehicle authorisation valid in multiple countries has been issued for the first time: the European Union Agency for Railways has granted the first conformity-to-type for 30 freight wagons for operation in all European countries.

Josef Doppelbauer, Executive Director of ERA, said: “Thanks to our learning case programme prior to 16 June, and the excellent cooperation between ERA experts and the applicants before and prior to the authorisation process, we are well-prepared to efficiently manage the new applications. I’m proud to say that our processes have been running smoothly from day one.”

Thierry Breyne, Head of the Planning and Approvals Delivery Unit at ERA, added: “ERA succeeded in taking the decision on this conformity-to-type authorisation well within the legal timeframe of four weeks. Considering that this first authorisation is a learning process for all parties involved, I congratulate the experts from the manufacturer and ERA to have managed this so well.”

In the first two weeks, ERA received more than 30 valid applications for vehicle authorisations and two applications for single safety certificates, involving most of the countries that have transposed the new legislation in 2019. ERA has assigned dedicated multilingual expert teams to assess each application.