AGENDA ITEM: C1.a
MEETING:
RSSB Board Meeting
DATE:
07 May 2015
SUBJECT:
Annual Standards Review and ISCC Strategic Plan
SPONSOR:
Mark Phillips
AUTHOR:
Tim Gilbert
1.
Purpose of the paper
1.1
This paper reports on standards-related activities carried out by RSSB during the past year
under the auspices of the Industry Standards Coordination Committee (ISCC), of which Tim
Gilbert is the chairman and Mark Phillips is the RSSB member. The paper also includes
Issue Two of the ISCC Strategic Plan for Control Period 5, which is offered for the board’s
endorsement.
2.
Report on standards activities
2.1
ISCC monitors the effectiveness of Railway Group Standards (RGSs) and the procedures for
managing them as defined in the RGS Code and the Standards Manual.
2.2
ISCC receives and reviews the report on standards activities, produced annually by RSSB
and supplemented by a mid-year update. ISCC also invites, twice a year, the chairmen of
each of the six Standards Committees (SCs) to brief ISCC on standards-related work.
2.3
Each SC has produced a strategic plan for Control Period 5 (CP5) setting out what the GB
industry wishes to achieve with its standards and their relationship with the Technical
Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs). ISCC reviewed and endorsed the plans for all SCs
for CP5 during 2014.
2.4
The SC chairmen meet monthly to discuss progress with national technical rules and
national safety rules, to review TSI activity and any RGS issues. They inform ISCC and seek
their support for issues which could have significant implications for the mainline railway,
including where a specific case in a TSI may be required.
2.5
The board is advised of any specific issues relating to standards as they arise through the
Chief Executive’s Report.
2.6
Issue two of the ISCC Strategic Plan for control period 5, attached to this paper, sets out
the key activities for 2014 to 2019. ISCC approved issue two of the plan (for the year 2015
to 2016) on 21 January 2015, recognising that the ongoing priorities and activities
highlighted in the previous issue (covering 2014 to 2015) continue to be relevant and fit
for purpose for the coming year. The excellent progress made in 2014 to 2015 related to
the ongoing key activities was recognised and noted. Issue two of the plan will be subject
to ongoing annual review at ISCC and the results will be reported to the board.
3.
ISCC comments
3.1
ISCC members made the following comments:
a) ISCC has expressed concern in the past about the lack of a plan for developing
standards from the ERTMS programme. Late assessment of requirements, which are
still emerging, has put standards development on the critical path for introduction of
ERTMS. ISCC believe this situation could have been avoided with better planning.
RSSB Board Meeting Final: 07 May 2015
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AGENDA ITEM: C1.a
4.
Industry and European issues
4.1
ISCC has considered, built consensus and influenced the way forward in the following
areas:
a)
ISCC considered the implications of the scope extension of the TSIs in January 2015.
They arranged a review of the Infrastructure (INF) TSI, associated RGSs and Network
Rail Standards for Plain Line Track. This was to establish whether there were any
major issues that would prevent implementation of the TSIs due to potential conflicts
between different standards. The result was very encouraging, as no major issues
were identified.
b)
ISCC set up a sub-group to consider lessons learned from the past development and
implementation of TSIs. Additionally, an industry wide workshop with nearly 80
attendees was organised to get feedback from stakeholders and identify
recommendations for potential improvements. The workshop was very well received
and welcomed by the attendees and the industry representatives in general. A
detailed paper setting out the recommendations and proposed priorities will be
considered at ISCC in May 2015 and will be used to inform the next round of drafting.
c)
ISCC considered and agreed a solution for the process to notify National Technical
Rules (NTRs). A mechanism for publishing and notifying NTRs has been agreed with
the DfT and the list of notified NTRs is published on the DfT website. The list
references specific sets of clauses in RGSs which are NTRs. The list is published on a
quarterly basis in line with the publication cycle for RGSs. The use of this mechanism
is now well established and will continue until the European Rail Agency’s
system/database for notification (NOTIF-IT) becomes fully operational.
d)
ISCC asked RSSB to prioritise the production of the AC energy standards and these
were published in December 2014. ISCC recognises that DC energy standards are also
needed and has now asked RSSB to prioritise these, with the aim of publishing them
in December 2015.
e)
ISCC has endorsed a trial of a new format for RGSs. The approach is to include within
standards both the related guidance and which parts of TSIs are addressed. This will
reduce the overall number of documents by eliminating the need for a separate
document for guidance.
f)
ISCC has endorsed the publication on RSSB’s website of information relating to cyber
security. The guidance is designed to be high-level, providing advice to senior teams
to aid development of effective cyber security policies. It sets out the principles and
general approach to cyber security, as good practice.
g)
With the increasing alignment of TSI requirements and NTRs in RGSs, it is necessary to
clearly identify and highlight to the users of RGSs that the relevant mandatory
requirements associated with a railway subsystem are those contained in TSIs plus the
NTRs in RGSs. To facilitate this, ISCC supported the principle of RGSs highlighting
relevant TSI requirements at the beginning of each RGS, followed by the relevant
NTRs. This approach should promote greater awareness of, and conformity with, TSI
requirements, and should help clarify how NTRs relate to the TSI requirements.
h)
ISCC has identified that RSSB should continue to provide support to the Network Railled industry implementation programme on TAP/TAF TSIs. This consists of providing
regulatory advice related to standards as well as supporting the facilitation of industry
agreement of key issues as and when necessary.
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AGENDA ITEM: C1.a
5.
Review of membership
5.1
ISCC reviewed its membership in accordance with Appendix A section A8 of the Standards
Manual. It reviewed representation and agreed the following:
a) To co-opt a new member to represent Notified Bodies.
b) To look at options to increase the Infrastructure Manager representation – given that
RSSB now has increased membership in this area. Work is underway to look at
available options.
6.
Recommendation
6.1
The board is asked to NOTE the content of the report.
RSSB Board Meeting Final: 07 May 2015
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