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New English translation of the Railway Transport Act 2003

08.08.2022

The Office of Rail Transport prepared a new unofficial translation of the main legal act which regulates railway transport in Poland. The new translation covers changes introduced by 4th railway package. We remind that this is an unofficial translation and provided for reference only.

The amendments to the Railway Transport Act 2003 passed in March 2021 partially implemented the technical provisions of technical pillar of 4th railway package into national law. The changes included i.a. an introduction of :

  • a single safety certificate which replaces two parts of a safety certificate: A and B. The issuing authority is the President of the Office of Rail Transport (NSA) or the European Union Agency for Railways,
  • an authorization for placing a vehicle on the market in place of an authorisation for placing a vehicle in service. The issuing body is the President of the Office of Rail Transport (NSA) or the European Union Agency for Railways,
  • a One-Stop Shop (OSS) - an IT system created by the European Union Agency for Railways to handle applications for issuing single safety certificates and applications for authorisations for placing on the market. 

In addition, the amendments extended the scope of certification of entities in charge of maintenance of railway vehicles (ECM), laying down detailed provisions on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance and modify the rules for obtaining safety authorization for infrastructure managers and safety attestations for railway sidings users.

One of the most significant changes to the Railway Transport Act 2003 was the introduction of a state examination for the train driver's licence and the first train driver's certificate. The President of the Office of Rail Transport will conduct such examinations from 1st January 2023. To this end, an Examination and Monitoring Centre for Train Drivers is being set up, equipped with modern examination rooms and simulators allowing the examination of train drivers for all certificate categories.

Moreover, monitoring of professional competences of railway staff to ensure safety in rail transport has become a new task of the President of the Office of Rail Transport. The implementation of this task will be carried out mainly in an advanced IT system currently being developed to handle the examination process of candidates for train drivers and to maintain the national register of train drivers. The system will also enable direct electronic exchange of data between the Office, railway companies and general public, which will significantly reduce the administrative burden. To ensure uninterrupted operation of the system and a high level of physical and digital security, a state-of-the-art server room has been created, along with IT equipment, and the whole meets the requirements of security, availability and reliability defined in accordance with the TIER-3 standard.

The new translation of the Railway Transport Act 2003 is available here.

 

 

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