Halcrow offers a full range of certification and approval services to the rail industry across the globe.
Vehicle Acceptance Body (VAB), UK
Halcrow is registered to act as a conformance certification body (CCB) and vehicle acceptance body (VAB), operating Rail Safety and Standard Board’s processes for engineering acceptance of rail vehicles. This ensures that new and modified trains comply with the Railway Group Standards.
Our scope of certification services, for a wide range of vehicle types, covers:
- vehicle design
- vehicle maintenance
- vehicle construction
- engineering acceptance
Engineering acceptance of metro vehicles for running on Network Rail’s infrastructure
Halcrow provided vehicle acceptance body services for Nexus’s 80-strong metro vehicles fleet for operation on Network Rail’s line to Sunderland. Halcrow undertook an assessment of the vehicles construction, including a number of adaptations to comply with Railway Group standards, and an assessment of the maintenance manuals to ensure continued compliance with the standards. This is the only UK example of a light rail vehicle operating in mixed traffic with conventional rail vehicles.
Engineering acceptance of the Siemens Class 444 Desiro electrical multiple units (EMU)
Halcrow provided vehicle acceptance body services for new Class 444 EMU rolling stock, which was being introduced onto the UK rail network.
This independent review was undertaken to demonstrate that the design, construction and maintenance of the vehicles met all mandatory requirements of Railway Group Standards.
Notified body
All new mainline trains in Europe have to conform to technical specifications for interoperability. The assessment of conformity is performed by a notified body. The process requires that all new and upgraded trains and infrastructure on the trans-European network comply with technical specifications for interoperability. Compliance is shown through EC certificates of verification, which are provided by notified bodies.
Halcrow Rail Approvals Ltd has been appointed by the UK Department for Transport as a notified body. The appointment is for certificates of verification and declarations of conformity for systems and constituents in the following categories:
High speed interoperability including:
- rolling stock
- control, command and signalling
- energy
Conventional interoperability including:
- passenger carriages
- traction units and locomotives
- freight wagons
- control, command and signalling
- energy
- noise
- telematics applications for passenger services
Notified body assessment of the installation of GSM-R radios
Halcrow is currently providing notified body services for the installation of GSM-R radios on a single sample of a range of fleets operated by Northern Rail.
Notified body assistance to Irish Rail for the noise technical specifications for interoperability
The class 22,000 DMUs were procured before the noise technical specifications for interoperability came into force therefore there was no legal requirement for Irish Rail to apply it. It was decided, nonetheless, to apply it retrospectively.
Due to time constraints, Halcrow designed a process that mirrored the notified body process to the satisfaction of regulators, without being formally appointed as a notified body. Halcrow also arranged tests of the noise levels of the vehicles in accordance with the noise technical specifications for interoperability and completed a technical file that mirrored the output of a true notified body assessment.
Independent safety assessment
Halcrow is accredited by the Network Rail acceptance panel for the provision of independent safety assessment services.
Halcrow’s traction and rolling stock team, in conjunction with colleagues in signalling, has performed independent safety assessment services for the new design of point’s machines and new designs of an AWS receiver as well as independent safety reviews for Irish Rail.
AWS receivers
Halcrow was contracted by Unipart Rail to assess their new AWS receivers and to produce an independent safety assessment report for submission to Network Rail. The aim was to confirm that:
- there were no additional risks to the railway from full product acceptance of the receivers
- the receivers met the relevant technical and safety standards
The boundary of the system considered was the AWS receiver itself along with its fixings, and the conduit for connection back to the AWS junction box.
Independent safety reviews for Iarnród Éireann
Halcrow has been commissioned to carry out independent safety reviews of several new fleets of rolling stock for Iarnród Éireann. Halcrow issued formal certification on each project, covering specification, design, construction, testing, maintenance and fleet operation. We produced a report for each fleet giving full details of the areas covered by the review, the list of information supplied, commentary on the information and recommendations on any areas for improvement.
Rail Industry Supplier Approval Scheme (RISAS)
RISAS is a scheme in the UK for the approval of suppliers of a range of critical products and services of suppliers for rolling stock overhauls.
Halcrow is one of the first organisations to be accredited by the RSSB as a Rail Industry Supplier Approval Body (RISAB). The scope of approval services under RISAS covers a range of products and service groups.
Halcrow completed one of the first supplier approvals under the scheme for Rail Door Solutions. The approval process required a detailed understanding of the work of Rail Door Solutions, a risk assessment of the company’s activities and a thorough, detailed audit and assessment of how the company managed all aspects of the quality of its products and services.