Interoperability is a European Commission initiative to promote a single market in the rail sector. The Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2006 (RIR) came into force on 1 April 2006 and transpose three European Directives on railway interoperability into UK law. The Directives are aimed at removing technical and financial barriers to the supply of equipment and the running of trains between Member States and were adopted by the European Council and the Parliament between 1996 and 2004. They are: the High-Speed Directive (96/48/EC); the Conventional Directive (2001/16/EC); and the 'Amendment' Directive (2004/50/EC), which made changes to the High-Speed Directive and Conventional Directive.
The High-Speed Directive was originally implemented in the UK by means of the Railways (Interoperability) (High-Speed) Regulations 2002 ("the High-Speed Regulations"). The RIR implement all three of the railway Interoperability Directives, and revoke the High-Speed Regulations.
The Interoperability Directives provide for common technical standards, Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs) to be applied across Europe's railways and establish a common European verification and authorisation process for placing new, upgraded or renewed infrastructure or rolling stock (subsystems) into service. They also provide a process for putting certain rail components known as interoperability constituents onto the rail market.
The RIR extend the assessment and authorisation processes provided for by the High-Speed Regulations to the conventional rail part of the Trans-European Network (TEN). The conventional TEN lines, along with the high-speed lines, currently amount to approximately 40% of the mainline network (by track miles). The remaining portion - the non-TEN network - is referred to as the domestic railway.
All Infrastructure and rolling stock not subject to authorisation under the RIR need to be managed under the provisions in the The Railways and Other Guided Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS). These projects will need to be managed under the Transport Operator's (Duty Holder) Safety Verification (SV) arrangements or under their Safety Management System (SMS) change management controls. In the UK, all orders for new rolling stock on the mainline network will be covered by the RIR as almost all rolling stock is likely to operate over part, at least, of the TEN network at some point during its life.
ROGS revoked the previous approvals regime The Railways and Other Transport Systems (Approval of Works, Plant and Equipment) Regulations 1994 (ROTS) except for the continuing application for certain projects covered by transitional provisions in ROGS. There are separate transitional arrangements for the UK mainline industry and the heritage/light rail sectors. See the transition page for further information.