Railway approval management

Rail approval management helps rolling stock manufacturers, suppliers, railway operating companies and infrastructure managers gain approval from the relevant governing bodies to place their vehicle into service.

In-depth knowledge is required to understand the different approval requirements, depending on the type of railway vehicle and the conditions of its intended use.

Railway approval requirements from various sources such as Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI), Notified National Technical Rules (NNTR), and customer and supplier specifications, must be merged and consolidated.

An effective railway approval management process can facilitate coordination and interpretation of these complex requirements among regulatory bodies and authorities which can be quite challenging. This process can also identify and mitigate potential delays and compliance risks in the approval process.

TÜV SÜD’s professional network, extensive experience and knowledge of railway regulatory requirements in different markets around the world enables us to support you in rolling stock assessment and EC verification, from conceptualisation through to product approval.

As an accredited inspection body and testing laboratory according to ISO 17020 and ISO 17025, we help you to successfully navigate through the approval process. Our close collaboration with many authorities enables us to minimise the risk of non-compliance.

Our railway approval management services include:

Approval requirements support

• We maintain an up-to-date overview of the complex approval requirements to assist manufacturers, suppliers, and railway operating companies throughout the process.
• We support you in understanding the requirements to avoid misinterpretation.

Approval planning and strategy

• To ensure that the approval process runs smoothly, our experts will analyse your project to identify possible delays and operational constraints.
• We also help to identify risks and support decisions by managing coordination between authorities, customers and engineering partners.

Approval process

• Drawing on vast experience in rolling stock approval projects, our experts can contribute to your continuous process improvement. We can help establish or organise your process manuals to strengthen your approval department.