Vehicles operating on the Railtrack Infrastructure in the UK must be supported by a safety case in order to demonstrate that Railtrack and the Train Operator comply with the Railways Safety Case Regulations 1994. Compliance with Railway Group Standards and the subsequent issue of a Certificate of Engineering Conformance demonstrate elements of the safety case specific to vehicle design, manufacture and maintenance.

Additionally, vehicle Type Approval must be granted by HMRI, which confirms approval with the Railways and Other Transport Systems (Approval of Works, Plant and Equipment Regulations 1994). These requirements are achieved by compliance with HM Railway Inspectorate, Railway Safety Principles and Guidance Part 2 Section F.

London Underground have their own set of standards: E6261 A1 "Rolling Stock General Requirements for Materials". Light Rail Vehicles (trams) in the UK are regulated by DETR and HMRI. For non UK contracts the purchaser will often specify a/several standard(s) to work to for example UIC codes, NFPA 130, DIN, ISO.

Adtranz have a set of documents called "Design Rules and Aids" which contain the accumulated knowledge (tools and techniques) to produce vehicle systems in accordance with the standards.

Volume 1 Best Practise Guide

Volume 2 Structures

Volume 3 Materials

Volume 4 Bogies and Suspensions

Volume 5 Brakes

Volume 6 Power Door Systems

Volume 7 Electrical Systems

Volume 8 Power Equipment

Volume 9 Environmental Systems

Volume 10 Acoustics

Volume 11 Weights

Volume 12 Interiors

Volume 13 Performance and Aerodynamics

Volumes 4,7,11 and 12 are still being written.

Volume 3 "Materials" gives details such as relevant standards, properties, and suppliers for metals, plastics, elastomers and adhesives that are appropriate for use on railway vehicles. The document is very out of date and is being revised. There is no reference to multi materials at the present time.

Our manufacturing staff work to "Process Build Sheets" which give stepwise instructions on how to assemble the vehicle.

The following sections give details of UK standards / codes for our selected design criteria. Please note: we have no specific standards for multi materials.

The fire performance standard (GMRT 2120) refers to multi materials as follows: "consideration should be given to the likely behaviour of layered materials….Particular attention should be given to ensuring that the integrity of layered materials can be maintained in situations where the overall performance depends on the use of fire resistant outer layers to protect non compliant inner layers" (no alternative / additional tests are specified for multi materials).

Railway vehicles are expected to be in service for 35 years.

The exterior of the vehicle therefore has to be designed so that the external shell will withstand 35 years exposure to the local ambient conditions. For painted structures this may include regular re-painting.

Interior trim items such as partitions are also expected to last for the life of the vehicle. Cosmetic changes such as change of colour can be fairly easily accommodated.

Railway vehicles have limitations on axle load (see GM/TT 0088 "Permissible Track Forces for Railway Vehicles"). There may also be weight limitations over bridges.

Railway vehicles are expected to meet GM/RT 2100 "Structural Requirements for Railway Vehicles" and interior components should meet GM/TT0179 "Structural Requirements for Body Mounted Equipment on Railway Vehicles" (main points supplied in Year 1 with the case study).

PrEN 12663 "Railway Applications – Structural Requirements of Railway Vehicle Bodies" is less onerous than the UK standard.

The material specification given to suppliers for glass reinforced polyester / phenolic mouldings includes requirements to test the material to BS EN ISO 6603-1. Pass/fail criterion is 90 MPa minimum (cold press manufacture) and 125 MPa minimum (other manufacturing methods).

Vehicles which run on Railtrack infrastructure are expected to meet GM/RT 2120 "Requirements for the Control of Risk Arising from Fires on Railway Vehicles": with passenger safety being reviewed / regulated by HMRI. BS 6853:1999 "Code of Practise for Fire Precautions in the Design and Construction of Passenger Carrying Trains" is a standard that HMRI recognise and accept in the safety case. London Underground have their own standards.

All interior and exterior components must be suited to the prevailing ambient / climatic conditions, which are documented in the technical requirements specifications given to suppliers. Our suppliers are expected to guarantee that all materials are fit for purpose.

We have some material specification documents that include environmental exposure tests. For example:

Our paint systems are subject to various environmental ageing tests (see CED/TS/89/021 "BREL Test Specifications for Materials") one of which is humidity (BS 3900 F2). Our current paint system would be expected to be "touched up" after ca. 8 years and re-applied after 12 – 15 years.

Laminates are specified to comply with BS EN 438: 1991, which includes tests for immersion in boiling water and dry heat.

We are investigating whether we can develop a material specification for adhesives / sealants which includes effect of environmental exposure.

There is a Routine Water Test (ENG/TS/94/032) for complete railway vehicles, designed to detect any joints/ seals/ apertures that allow water to pass through. The basic requirement is that the train should not leak (equipment, vehicle trim, passengers and crew should not get wet). If any leaks are detected they are repaired. This test was developed by ABB Transportation Ltd. (now Adtranz) in 1994 for a specific customer and was re-introduced last year.

We work to:

BS EN ISO 9000 Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards

BS EN ISO 9001 Quality Systems: Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation and Servicing.

BS EN ISO 9002 Quality Systems: Model for Quality Assurance in Production Installation and Servicing.

BS EN ISO 9002 Quality Systems: Model for Quality Assurance in Final Inspection and Test

BS EN ISO 9004 Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards

(BS 5750)