Management of vehicle changes

In accordance with Articles 15 and 16 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/545 of 4 April 2018 establishing practical arrangements for the railway vehicle authorisation and railway vehicle type authorisation process pursuant to Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council (hereinafter – Regulation 2018/545) the Inspectorate, as the State safety authority, after notification of the organiser of changes, shall evaluate changes to the vehicle and take a decision regarding the necessary further action.

The authorisation may cover one vehicle or several identical vehicles.

The Inspectorate shall issue a permit if the area of use of the vehicle is Latvia.

The Agency shall issue an authorisation if the vehicle's area of operation is located in more than one Member State.

In order for entities responsible for changes to comply with Regulation 2018/545 and Latvian national requirements, the Inspection has prepared “The Guideline for the Placing on the Market of Railway Vehicles and Vehicle Types” (V-2.0), 04.02.2026., Chapter 13 of the guideline describes the process of managing vehicle changes.

This manual complements the Agency's Manual ERA1209/222 V2.1” Guidelines for the practical arrangements for the vehicle authorisation process, 2024”, which is also directly applied in its activities by the Inspectorate as the national safety authority of the vehicle area where the Agency is the authorising entity.

The applicant shall submit a notification to the Inspectorate of changes to an already authorised vehicle accompanied by documentation giving reasonable assurance that the change maker has fulfilled its obligations as required by Regulation 2018/545.

The notification must include the following information:

• Description and identification of the vehicle/vehicle type.
• Brief description of the modifications compared to the authorized vehicle and/or vehicle type.
• Conditions and restrictions for the use of the vehicle.
• Rules applicable to the modifications (TSIs, national rules, other EU legislation).
• Classification of the modifications, with justification of the category in accordance with Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/545.
• Reference to the applicant’s written declaration of compliance with Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2018/545 (Safety Declaration).
• Reference(s) to the EC certificate(s) for mobile subsystem(s) (EC type-examination or design-examination certificate(s), quality management system (QMS) approval certificate(s), and EC verification certificate(s)).
• Reference(s) to the EC declaration(s) of verification relating to the mobile subsystem(s).
• Reference(s) to national regulation certificate(s).

Within one month, the Inspectorate verifies whether the submitted documentation is complete and informs the notifier of the results:

• if the documentation is complete – the assessment is initiated;
• if additional information is required – a request for clarification is sent to the applicant.

The Inspectorate examines the service recipient’s notification concerning modifications to a vehicle that has already been authorized, in accordance with Article 16(4) of the Regulation 2018/545, assessing:

• the technical compatibility of the subsystems with the railway system;
• the safe integration of the subsystems;
• the compliance of maintenance and operational documentation;
• the involvement of the relevant bodies (NoBo, DeBo, AsBo etc.).

On the basis of Section 33(1¹) and Section 33(3)(1) of the Railway Law, Point No.127 of Cabinet regulation No.374 of 9 June 2020 “Railway Interoperability Regulations,” as well as the requirements of Articles 15 and 16 of Regulation 2018/545, the Inspection shall carry out an assessment of the changes and shall decide:

• if the assessment of the notification documentation regarding the classification of the modifications provides reasonable assurance that the entity responsible for the modification has fulfilled its obligations as required under Article 16 of the Regulation;
• if the entity responsible for the modification has provided sufficient evidence that the classification of the modifications is correct;
• whether a new authorisation to place the vehicle on the market is required.

The Inspection shall, within four months after completeness examination, take a reasoned decision to issue an authorisation for changes in a vehicle already authorised.

In the case of incorrect classification or insufficiently substantiated information, the inspection shall request the submission of an application for authorisation.

The change management process ensures that the classification of changes is correctly determined and that potential risks are eliminated.