The harmonisation of the European rail network has impacted rail traffic and railway operations in Europe. Better transport networks and cross-border co-operation is the end goal, but first many challenges have to be conquered.

DNV is notified as NB 1347 to carry out assessment and verifications according to the European directives on interoperability. As a notified body, DNV contributes to the approval of interoperability constituents and subsystems.

It is necessary to assess and verify railway components and sub-systems so that suppliers can market their products all over Europe and assure the same approval procedure. Furthermore to verify subsystems so the national safety authority may approve and render commissioning on the same level as in other countries.

The process for assessing and verifying components or subsystems are:
Verification of subsystems – at the request of the contractor to obtain commissioning from the national safety authorities, it is necessary to have a certificate from a notified body. The contractor is responsible for selecting a notified body who may issue a certificate according to the directive or directives, subsystem and modules requested.

Assessment of interoperability components (IC) – at the request of the supplier who shall ensure that the necessary assessment has been completed prior to any marketing of the specific component (product). All interoperability components in a subsystem shall be accompanied by certificates from notified bodies, in order for the subsystem to be approved.

The interoperability directives are 96/48/EC, 2001/16/EC, 2004/50/EC, 2007/32/EC and 2008/57/EC.

DNV is notified as NB 1347 to carry out assessment and verifications according to the European Directives on interoperability. As a notified body, DNV contributes to the approval of interoperability constituents and subsystems.

Technical specifications for interoperability (TSI’s) declare which railway components and railway subsystems are required to be either assessed or verified by a notified body.

To learn more about the procedure with regard to notified body certification, a certification description for the following directives has been developed for subsystems and for IC’s respectively: