Requirements on wagons

Transitional rule on using independent reviewers

According to the transition rule to the Railway Technology Act (2022:366), older regulations may be applied to cases and matters initiated before the Act enters into force. This means that if you have an ongoing case before 1 June 2022 for authorisation in the One-Stop Shop or for temporary authorisation or for an independent reviewer at the Swedish Transport Agency, you may continue to use an independent reviewer instead of a Designated Body (DeBo) in the authorisation process for the vehicle in question.

Technical rules

New, upgraded and renewed wagons shall normally be authorised according "The harmonised approach". This mean that the wagons shall fulfil the requirements according relevant TSIs (European Technical Specifications for Interoperability) and national requirements regarding open points and specific cases in the TSIs. For wagons with an axle load above 25 tonnes or with a maximum speed above 160 km/h national rules applies only. 

Valid TSIs

New locomotives and passenger units shall normally fulfil the following TSIs for the authorisation:

A wagon that fulfils all requirements according point 7.1.2. of TSI Wagon get an authorisation by ERA valid for EU+ (EU+NO+CH). Also wagons from the other OTIF-countries are authorised with mutual recognition for operation in all OTIF-countries (EU+NO+CH + South east Europe + Middle East + North Africa). Wagons that also fulfills appendix C in TSI Wagons are marked with "GE" (Go Everywhere). Old wagons had mutual recognition according to the COTIF-agreement with authorisation before July 2008. These wagons are marked "RIV" and they are still authorised for operation with mutual recognition. The standard wagons have ID-numbers beginning with "0", "1", "2" or "3".

Wagons can be marked "CW" (Compatible With) in case at least one of three specific requirement of appendix C is not fulfilled (all other requirements i Annex C are fulfilled). These wagons have ID-numbers beginning with "4" or "8", but are mutually recognised if the requirements in 7.1.2 are fulfilled.

Wagons which do not fulfil the requirements of point 7.1.2 of TSI Wagon needs a specific authorisation for operation in Sweden.

The Swedish Transport Agency and the European Rail Agency (ERA) have issued a number of technical documents and guide lines to facilitate the application of the TSIs and authorisation of rail vehicles. Below you find the guidelines regarding wagons.

- ERA: Guide to TSI WAG

- ERA: Guide to TSI NOI

- ERA: List of full approved K composite brake blocks for international transport

To fulfil the requirements of TSI Noise the wagon must have brake blocks of composite type (or disc brakes). ERA has authorised a number of types of composite brake blocks, which are listed on the ERA web. These blocks are safe in Nordic winter conditions. After the 1st of July 2015 the brake block get the status as "interoperability Constituent". This mean a Nobo shall assess the brake blocks and issue a certificate valid for some categories of wagons. Wagons that don't fulfill chapter 7.1.2 in TSI Wagons may have brake blocks with reduced brake capacity in Nordic winter conditions. Note! Under the recent years it has been discovered that also so called approved brake blocks have a risk to get reduced brake capacity in Nordic winter conditions. This is especially critical when a train consist of only wagons with such blocks.

When application for authorisation of a wagon (or series of wagons) the applicant shall engage one or more notified bodies. These notified bodies shall assess the wagon(-s) and issue a certificate of compliance to the TSIs. The applicant should also send an application to Transportstyrelsen at the start of the process to get information on the applicable national requirements for the authorisation. In case of an upgrading or renewal it is stated in TSI Wagon and regulation (EU) 2018/545 what and who to assess.

National requirements, open points and specific cases

Wagons shall fulfil the TSI-requirements and specific national requirements regarding open points and specific cases in the TSI Wagon. There are also some categories of wagon which are out of scope of TSI Wagon e.g. iron ore wagons with axle loads >25 ton and wagons with maximum speed >160 km/h. These type of wagons has to fulfil national technical rules. These technical rules ar in Transportstyrelsens regulation TSFS 2022:36.

The Swedish Transport Agency has issued guidelines with technical solutions for different functions of a vehicle to facilitate for the applicant. In the TSI Wagon most of these functions are specified, except for specific cases and open points. The main scope for the guidelines below are to specify technical solutions for national wagons.

In the TSI Wagon there is a specific case for Sweden saying that the wagons shall be designed for operation in the Nordic winter conditions to get an authorisation without operational restrictions. The applicant should demonstrate the safety and reliability for operation in severe winter conditions. Hence Transportstyrelsen may require experience operation to issue a "permanent" authorisation without operational restrictions. Special purpose wagons which are not designed for Nordic winter will get operational restrictions for Sweden e.g. reduced brake performance in snow conditions. The railway undertaking is responsible to apply these operation restrictions.