EU - Transport Policy

Written evidence from the Heritage Railway Association (EU 15)

The Heritage Railway Association represents 108 heritage railways and tramways operating in Great Britain and Ireland. The Association is run by volunteers, and established a Legal Services Committee at the time of BR privatisation to monitor new legislation affecting heritage railways, advising members how to meet the new legal requirements. Heritage railways are subject to similar safety requirements to the main line network, recognising the simpler nature of their operation and lower maximum speed (25 mph), but HRA has periodically sought derogation from legislation designed for the main line network where it is not appropriate for heritage lines. This has been done, either through DfT ministers and officials, or in Europe, through the good offices of Brian Simpson MEP. In general, this approach has worked well, but in some cases, the interpretation of EU legislation can result in impacts and costs on heritage railways, not intended by the legislators. Three recent examples of this are:

Railways & Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations, 2006: Approval of new works (such as line extensions or signalling schemes) had traditionally been undertaken by Inspecting Officers from HMRI, but the new regulations require this to be done by ‘independent competent persons’ (ICPs). Their application in Britain goes well beyond the national railway network intended by the directive and encompasses tramways and heritage railways. The latter use traditional technology requiring specialist skills no longer widely available, so HRA with ORR has had to organise and fund specialist training courses through Birmingham University to train ICPs for heritage railways and tramways.

The Train Driver Licences and Certificates Regulations, 2010: The Directive is designed to facilitate international services, and heritage Railways were exempt from its application, but in transposing it into national law, a problem arose in the case of the North York Moors Railway which runs through trains to the national network at Whitby. It is hoped that this will be exempt, along with other future through services between heritage railways and the national network, but initially, it appeared that a strict interpretation of the definitions used in the Directive would require NYMR drivers to hold the international certificate.

2003 EU directive on the use of biofuels: Whilst railway locomotives are exempt until the end of this year, it is important to continue this for heritage diesel locomotives, where conversions to burn a biofuel mix is either impractical or requires major and expensive modification of the engines.

There is a strong case for heritage railways and tramways, with their traditional technology and limited transport role, to be exempted from EU regulations and their translation into national law as a matter of course. At the least we would suggest that legislators should give careful consideration to the special needs of heritage railways to avoid the law of unintended consequences as well as unnecessary costs. HRA is happy to give advice and guidance on what is practical in railway terms.

January 2011