In 2016, the 4th railway package introduced the concept of safety critical components (SCCs). In 2019, the TSI Loc&Pas and TSI Wag defined SCCs as components that, if a single failure were to occur, could potentially lead directly to a serious accident. These definitions also contain requirements in sections related to maintenance and operational documentation. Additionally, the ECM Regulation (EU) 2019/779 mandates the management of SCCs for all vehicles by the ECM.
The presentation discusses how to ensure the safety of the railway system, pointing out that it is essential for vehicle designers and manufacturers to identify the SCCs for new vehicles through risk assessment techniques and operational and maintenance requirements. After this analysis, they must provide relevant documentation to RUs and ECMs to enable them to adopt appropriate control measures for maintenance and operations.
On the other hand, ECMs are responsible for notifying potential new SCCs to vehicle manufacturers when discovered, both for new and existing vehicles during maintenance monitoring.