Description of BS EN 15955-1:2013 2013

1.1 General

This European Standard specifies the technical requirements to minimise the specific railway hazards of self propelled demountable machines – henceforward referred to as machines – and associated equipment, which can arise during the commissioning, the operation and the maintenance of these machines when carried out in accordance with the specification given by the manufacturer or his authorised representative. These machines are not designed or intended to operate signalling and control systems and are only designed and intended to work and run under special operating conditions specifically designated by the infrastructure manager. Other machines are dealt with in other European Standards; see Annex D.

This part of EN 15955 deals with the technical railway requirements; Part 2 deals with the requirements for the machine to be declared conformant by the manufacturer, except in the case of machines classified in Annex 4 of the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) which requires conformity check in conjunction with a notified body.

These demountable machines are not intended to be vehicles as defined in the Interoperability Directive and are not permitted to run on the railway lines open to normal traffic. If this is required, they will need to be authorised or placed into service as set out in the Interoperability Directive 2008/57/EC.

Additional requirements can apply for running on infrastructures with narrow gauge or broad gauge lines, lines of tramways, railways utilising other than adhesion between the rail and rail wheels and underground infrastructures.

This European Standard is also applicable to machines and associated equipment that in working configuration are partly supported on the ballast or the formation.

This European Standard does not apply to the following:

• requirements for quality of the work or performance of the machine;

• specific requirements established by the railway infrastructure operator for the use of machines, which will be the subject of negotiation between the manufacturer and the purchaser;

• separate machines temporarily mounted on demountable machines and associated equipment.

This European Standard does not establish the additional requirements for the following:

• operation subject to special rules, e.g. potentially explosive atmospheres;

• hazards due to natural causes, e.g. earthquake, lightning, flooding;

• working methods;

• operation in severe working conditions requiring special measures, e.g. work in tunnels or in cuttings, extreme environmental conditions (below – 20 °C or above + 40 °C), corrosive environments, contaminating environments, strong magnetic fields;

• hazards due to errors in software;

• hazards occurring when used to handle suspended loads which may swing freely.

The intended use of these machines may have operational parameters specified by each infrastructure manager, e.g. the maximum speed allowed for these machines is likely to be limited by the infrastructure manager; compliance with the clauses of this standard does not confer permission for machines to travel at this speed. These machines will not be allowed on a track open to normal railway traffic.

1.2 Validity of this European Standard

This European Standard applies to all machines, which are ordered one year after the publication date by CEN of this standard.

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