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Railway Product Certification

Railway Product Certification
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How our Rail Product Certification teams can support you 

Ricardo's railway product certification service provides third-party product approval attesting to a product’s conformity with EN17065 - or equivalent client-nominated standards or specifications - and verification of an appropriate quality system.

The service is based on a design review and type testing and analysis, drawing upon our experience over many decades of independent certification of quality management systems and products for the railway sector. 

Our services are available for a wide range of systems and equipment across conventional, light rail and metro applications, with teams based across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

In each territory we follow the specific requirements of local and industry standards. In the Netherlands, for example, we perform our activities to the standards (SPC) of the Dutch Infrastructure manager, ProRail, as well as to EuroNorm standards as an accredited Notified Body. 

Rail products certified by Ricardo's teams include:

  • Traffic Control Technologies
  • Rails, rail fastening systems and base plates
  • Catenary systems, cables and wires
  • Ceramic and composite insulators
  • Electrical components and applications
  • Train detection systems
  • Railway crossings, ground mats and protection systems
     
Assessment of new interlocking system

Assessment of new interlocking system

We assessed whether the safety functions of a new Computer Based Interlocking system from Korean manufacturer, LS ELECTRIC, achieved Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL4) against the latest EN 50126, EN 50128, and EN 50129 standards. Read more in our Case Study.

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Our approach to Product Certification

In most cases, we will conduct preliminary assessments to give all parties confidence that the  product, system or process is likely to achieve certification.

This will usually be followed by audits, witnessing of tests and on-site inspections that typically follow a six-stage process towards approval:

  1. Agreement on the relevant standards and specifications that the verification will be performed against. We grant technical approval for generic products or generic applications.
  2. Review of the design data submitted by the producer to establish that the design complies with the specific standards and specifications.
  3. Witnessing type tests in accordance with a programme agreed between the producer to confirm compliance with the claimed performance.
  4. Audit of the design and production quality systems controlling the product.
  5. Review of application arrangements for more complex products including addressing characteristics, restrictions and dependencies.
  6. Issue of a technical report and approval certificate.
We'd like to thank Ricardo for their dedication. Despite the timescales, the team performed the assessments with rigour and made extensive efforts to ensure the exercise was successfully completed on time. JW Lee , Project Manager, LS ELECTRIC, July 2021
We'd like to thank Ricardo for their dedication. Despite the timescales, the team performed the assessments with rigour and made extensive efforts to ensure the exercise was successfully completed on time.

The benefits of Product Certification

  • Unbiased, third-party verification of a product’s conformity to relevant national or international standards or specifications.
  • Assistance in ensuring appropriate levels of product safety and performance are achieved.
  • Confidence that the selected vendors and suppliers are capable of providing the required standard of systems and equipment.
  • More cost-effective model than continuous direct inspection of major products.
  • Fewer acceptance delays, rework requirements and risk for claims.
  • Setting standards for a lower risk approach to the supply of safety related and safety critical products for railway applications
  • Raising awareness of the key issues and best practice benchmarks in emerging manufacturing countries to help improve product quality.
China's first domestic CBTC technology

China's first domestic CBTC technology

How Ricardo supported the evolution of China's first domestically-developed CBTC technology, including its first driverless application on Beijing's Yanfang Line

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