eurobahn receives standardised European safety certificate for the first time

Düsseldorf, 10 May 2024 - In a six-month audit process, during which the safety management system (SMS) of the railway undertaking was examined down to the smallest detail, ERA and the national supervisory authorities involved, EBA for Germany and ILT for the Netherlands, confirm that all safety standards are met at eurobahn. For the first time, the uniform safety certificate was applied for by EBA, ILT and ERA, as eurobahn operates the RE 13 and RB 61 lines to Venlo and Hengelo in the Netherlands and thus carries out international rail operations. In addition, eurobahn is certified as being authorised to train train drivers.

Lukas Hagemann, Head of Health, Safety, Qualifacation at eurobahn: "Safety is our top priority. We bear responsibility for our passengers and our employees. We continuously review our safety standards and adapt them to new circumstances and requirements in order to ensure smooth and safe railway operations. The fact that we have received the standardised safety certificate from the ERA, EBA and ILT for the first time this year is the result of long, painstaking work and we are delighted about it."

The safety certificate is awarded every five years. All of the company's processes are scrutinised in detail: for example, the quality and safety issues in training are examined, as are the risks of digitalisation and communication, as well as vehicle procurement issues, as it must be ensured that suitable and safe vehicles are used in rail operations. This year's audit focused on the aspect of "human and organisational factors". Here, individual characteristics such as medical and personal factors are assessed and categorised. Organisational factors include, for example, personnel planning, workload and performance management. The safety certificate certifies that eurobahn's safety management system fulfils all requirements for safe rail operations.

The assessment report states: "The applicant has presented an overall convincing implementation of the requirements and shows commitment and motivation to further improve and deepen the processes and to align them with the specific needs of the company."