European Union Agency for Railways
The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that sets mandatory requirements for European railways and manufacturers in the form of Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI), which apply to the Trans-European Rail system. The ERA publishes a document summarising the status of the TSIs.[1] The ERA sets common safety targets, common safety methods and common safety indicators, following Directive 2004/49/EC and amendments. The ERA also hosts a number of databases, among which a register of remaining, applicable national rules.
 | |
 ERA, Lille | |
  Valenciennes, Lille European Union Agency for Railways (European Union) | |
| Formation | April 2004 (established) |
|---|---|
| Location | |
Director | Josef Doppelbauer |
| Website | era.europa.eu |
History
The agency was established in 2004 as part of the Second Railway Package, and commenced operations in 2006 as the European Railway Agency (ERA). It changed its name in June 2016 when the European Parliament approved the Fourth Railway Package, becoming the European Union Agency for Railways. The acronym ERA is still used to refer to the agency after the renaming, even by the agency itself.
In 2019 the ERA set up its One-Stop Shop[2] to deal with all applications for single safety certificates, vehicle authorisations and ERTMS trackside approvals.[3]
Notes
- "Transversal and merged TSIs and their amendments, by year" (PDF). European Railway Agency. April 2014. pp. 1 to 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- One-Stop Shop is online European Union Agency for Railways. Published: 16 February 2019
- David Briginshaw (2020-01-20). "Good start for Europe's one-stop shop". International Rail Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
