This European Standard describes methods of classification of existing and new railway lines and the
categorisation of vehicles. The standard specifies the technical requirements for ensuring the compatibility of
the interface between vehicle and infrastructure. The standard is suitable for use on freight, passenger and
mixed traffic lines and contains requirements relevant to:
- classification of the vertical load carrying capacity of railway infrastructure;
- design of railway vehicles;
- determination of payload limits of freight wagons.
A summary of the classification of infrastructure and categorisation of vehicles is given in Annex B.
The assessment of the vertical load carrying capacity of civil engineering structures, track, sub-grade and
earthworks by the use of the load models defined in Annex A permits the classification of infrastructure into
line categories.
This European Standard identifies on which lines vehicles are compatible to the infrastructure under normal
operation conditions without further checks regarding vertical load effects.
The methodology described in this European Standard is not valid for high speed rail traffic. Tilting traffic and
the working of rail mounted plant and cranes etc. are also outside the scope of this European Standard. This
European Standard does not cover the system used in Great Britain, where all lines and vehicles are to be
classified in accordance with the RA (Route Availability) System. A guide to the equivalent categories in
accordance with this European Standard is given in Annex C.
This European Standard does not cover requirements relating to the maximum total mass or maximum length
of a train.
The requirements of this European Standard do not replace regulations relating to e.g. dynamic wheel/rail
contact force limits, vehicle ride considerations, vehicle structural design limitations etc.
This standard covers the classification and publication of the classification of existing and new infrastructure lines and the categorisation of new vehicles into line categories for international and national traffic and manages the interface between the existing infrastructure of dedicated freight lines and mixed traffic lines and all railway vehicles under normal operating conditions including passenger train speeds up to 200 km/h (corresponding to traffic category II of prEN 13803-1). The classification of infrastructure into line categories manages predominantly the interface between the load models (reference wagons) of Annex A and the vertical load carrying capacity of civil engineering structures, track, sub-grade and earthworks. This standard covers the categorisation of railway vehicles into line categories, the determination of payload limits for existing and new freight wagons according to line category and the marking of vehicles with line categories and for freight wagons the marking of payload limits. This standard identifies where vehicles may be permitted to run in normal operations without further checks regarding vertical load effects. The load models (reference-wagons) of Annex A are for the classification of lines and shall not be used to design new structures. The methodology described in this standard is not valid for high speed rail traffic. Tilting traffic and the working of rail mounted plant and cranes etc. are outside the scope of this standard.