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Rail standards to stay even in case of ‘no-deal’ Brexit, RSSB confirms

Regardless of whether the government strikes a Brexit deal or not, the standards and protocols designed to promote safety across all EU railways will remain in place after the UK leaves the European Union, the RSSB has confirmed.

The standards, which ensure companies work safely as a system, will remain a legal requirement even if a ‘no-deal’ Brexit goes ahead. The protocols that exist in EU law – such as technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs) – will be adapted to work in the UK as domestic legislation, published as National Technical Specification Notices by the transport secretary.

And if a deal is agreed, TSIs are still likely to apply during the two-year transition period.

RSSB’s director of standards, Tom Lee, said: “We have been working very closely with the Department for Transport over the past year to ensure that requirements derived from the EU framework are legally fit for purpose for application in the UK with workable solutions in place, even in a potential ‘no deal’ scenario. 

“We want to ensure that day one post-Brexit, the UK standards framework is suitably aligned to the EU for immediate continuity and is legally robust, whilst providing for possible future divergence, if beneficial.”

Network Rail and other mainline infrastructure firms, TOCs, FOCs, rolling stock leasers and suppliers should all plan to continue to use relevant cross-industry standards after Brexit on March next year.