NEWS

To organize a safe railway network, it is fundamental to have a robust signalling and speed control system. At the European level, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system deployed for the management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). The ERTMS ensures interoperability of the national railway systems, reducing the purchasing and maintenance costs of the signalling systems as well as increasing the speed of trains, the capacity of infrastructure and the level of safety in rail transport.

CEN/TC 159 ‘Hearing protectors’ has recently published amendments to the EN 352 series ‘Hearing protectors - Safety requirements’ and updated testing methods in the EN 13819 series ‘Hearing protectors - Testing’. As new technologies, features, and functionalities are increasingly expected in hearing protectors, there is an ongoing need to incorporate relevant requirements and testing procedures.

Two standards have recently been published on patient handling equipment used in ambulances, developed by CEN/TC 239 ‘Rescue Systems’. EN 1865-2:2024 improves the performance of power assisted stretchers while EN 1865-6:2024 specifies requirements for powered chairs. These standards address safety and performance gaps, helping to protect both patients and caregivers.

From high alpine peaks to rugged construction sites, cableways are a crucial solution where roads cannot go. But not all cableways are built to carry tourists or skiers. Some are designed to transport goods – or specific individuals – across remote and challenging terrain. For these unique systems, the newly published EN 17639:2025 provides much-needed guidance to ensure safety, performance, and compliance.

Every year, thousands of lives are lost on European roads due to serious car crashes. While emergency services do their best, precious time can be lost when accidents occur in remote locations or when drivers are too injured to call for help. What if your car could call emergency services for you? This is exactly what the Pan-European eCall system does – and a newly updated standard ensures it works even better.

In an increasingly digital world, ensuring consistent and robust cybersecurity across complex, multi-stakeholder systems is more critical than ever. The new European Standard EN 18037:2025 ‘Guidelines on a sectoral cybersecurity assessment’, developed by JTC 13 ‘Cybersecurity and Data Protection’, fills this gap by specifying an approach for the risk-based identification of cybersecurity, certification, and assurance requirements for ICT products, processes, and services within complex, multi-stakeholder sectoral systems.

CENELEC published a new important standard for the railway community. EN 50388-2:2025 ‘Fixed installations and rolling stock for railway applications - Technical criteria for the coordination between electric traction power supply systems and rolling stock to achieve interoperability - Part 2: Stability and harmonics’ establishes the acceptance criteria, according to EN 50388-1:2022, for the compatibility between traction units and power supply for known phenomena and known technologies. The standard was developed by CLC/TC 9X ‘Electrical and electronic applications for railways’.

Screwed and bolted joints are often used to assemble safety-critical components on rail vehicles. The function of a bolted joint is to connect two or more parts in a sufficient and safe manner over the intended service life under the conditions of the railway environment. Bolted joints have huge implications for the safety of railway equipment: on the mechanical level, they are designed to transmit forces between the connected components without failure, separation or relative movement. On the electrical level, they are designed to ensure current transmission between electrical conductors safely and without separation or relative movement.

The EN 17988 series of European standards on the circular design of fishing gear and aquaculture equipment has officially been published, marking a significant milestone in promoting circularity within the fishing gear industry. Developed by CEN/TC 466, these standards provide a comprehensive framework to support circular design and life-cycle management of fishing gear and aquaculture equipment.

CEN/TC 133 'Copper and copper alloys' develops standards in the field of unwrought, wrought and cast products made from copper and copper alloys, and addresses topics such as designations, terms and definitions, material specifications, and testing methods.