ROGS: The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (as amended)

The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) came into force in 2006. ROGS provide the regulatory regime for rail safety, including the mainline railway, metros, tramways and light rail (including London Underground) and heritage railways. The Regulations implement the European Railway Safety Directive (2004/49/EC), the aim of which is to establish a common approach to rail safety that will help support the development of a single market for rail transport services in Europe.

We have published an approved list of transport systems that are excluded from the mainline railway.

The regulations require most railway operators to maintain a safety management system (SMS) and hold a safety certificate or authorisation indicating the SMS has been accepted by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Download our Guide to ROGS ( PDF 745 Kb).
Published May 2013

The findings of ORR’s monitoring and evaluation exercise on the performance and impact of the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS) can be found on the impact of ROGS on the rail industry page.

ROGS have also updated the law on safety critical work.

What did ROGS change?

ROGS replaced several sets of railway safety regulations:

ROGS has been amended by the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 and the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013. From 26 August 2011 ROGS introduced the concept of an ‘entity in charge of maintenance’ (ECM).

These changes are incorporated into the unofficial consolidated version of ROGS ( PDF PDF 327 Kb).

Who must comply with ROGS?

Transport undertakings - Any person or organisation that operates a vehicle in relation to any infrastructure. People or organisations that only carry out work in ‘engineering possessions’ (meaning sections of track closed to normal traffic for maintenance work) are not included. Only some of the duties in ROGS apply to them.
Infrastructure managers - Any person or organisation responsible for developing and maintaining infrastructure or for managing and operating a station and manages or uses that infrastructure or station or allows it to be used for the operation of a vehicle.
Transport manager - any transport undertaking or infrastructure manager.
An ‘entity in charge of maintenance’ (ECM) - any person or organisation that is responsible for the safe maintenance of a vehicle and is registered as an ECM in the national vehicle register. This can include people or organisations such as transport undertakings, infrastructure managers, a keeper or a maintenance organisation.

What must I do to meet the requirements of ROGS?

The most important parts of ROGS are as follows:

Safety certificates and authorisations

Under ROGS, no one is allowed to operate vehicles or manage infrastructure on GB railways unless they have obtained the appropriate safety certificate or authorisation from us. Applicants need to show how their safety management system allows them to run their transport system safely.

We will focus on checking that safety management systems are effective and fit for the purpose they are being used for. Lower-risk sectors (tramways and transport systems that do not run at speeds above 40 kilometres per hour) do not need safety certificates, but must still have a written safety management system in place.

Risk assessments

ROGS place a specific duty to carry out risk assessments and put in place the measures they have identified as necessary to make sure the transport system is run safely. Mainline transport operators must also comply with the common safety method for risk evaluation and assessment.

Safety verification

Non-mainline operators are responsible for ensuring that they have procedures in place to introduce new or altered vehicles or infrastructure safely. Where a new or significantly increased risk is involved, they must appoint an independent competent person (either an internal person from the organisation, or someone externally) to help them make sure they go through the right processes. This duty no longer applies to mainline operators as they now have to meet the requirements of the Commission Regulation setting out a common safety method for risk evaluation and assessment.

Mainline transport operators' annual safety reports

Any mainline transport operator who holds a safety certificate or safety authorisation must send us an annual report on their safety performance. More information can be found in annual safety reports.

Cooperation

ROGS also gives operators (and other people such as contractors) a duty to work together to make sure the transport system is run safely.

Managing safety critical work

Operators and their contractors have clear duties under ROGS to make sure their employees who carry out safety critical tasks are suitably competent and fit to do so. This also includes making sure these employees are not affected by fatigue.

Entities in charge of maintenance

ROGS requires that no person may place in service or use a vehicle on the mainline railway unless that vehicle has an entity in charge of maintenance (ECM) assigned to it, and that the ECM is registered as such in the National Vehicle Register (NVR). This has to happen before the vehicle is placed in service or used on the network. There is also a requirement for the ECM to establish a system of maintenance.

If an ECM is responsible for freight wagons, it must also obtain an ECM certificate.

Last updated: May 2013