On 19-20 May, the EU Agency for Railways (ERA) organised a two-day workshop on certification and supervision of railway safety management systems, as part of its EUMedRail project. The event gathered close to 40 representatives of national authorities and operators from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and offered the possibility for experts of national safety authorities from Belgium, Finland and France to share their experiences with experts of the Southern Mediterranean region.

The purpose of the event was to reflect on how railway companies can demonstrate that they have established a functional safety management system, and how safety authorities can check and monitor the effectiveness and performance of such systems, as required by EU legislation.

The first day focused on safety certification and informed about the requirements laid down in EU regulations on railway safety management systems and the defined harmonised procedures to obtain from European authorities a safety certificate, as a prerequisite, to operate on the railway network in the European Union.

On the second day, experts of ERA and national authorities described supervision as a key process to ensure the effective application of railway safety management systems, and pointed out the need for national safety authorities to design and implement a comprehensive strategy to supervise railway companies. The purpose of this strategy is to make sure railway companies effectively apply their safety management system provisions on a continuous basis during the period of validity of their safety certificates.

The purpose of Euromed Transport Rail Project (EUMedRail) is to improve the operations and the efficiency of the Mediterranean transport system by concentrating its efforts on regulatory reforms, training, and dialogue with the decision makers. 

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European Union Agency for Railways (EUMedRail)