Regulation (TSI / ETCS)
TSI landscape
EN 284 is the geometry standard for the swap body. TSIs are the binding EU interoperability specs — without them no corridor, no ERA authorisation, no institutional lease.
| TSI | Scope | What 2025/26 changes |
|---|---|---|
| TSI WAG | Freight wagons: running gear, brake, strength, noise path | New-build only on current revision; LL blocks couple to TSI Noise |
| TSI LOC&PAS | Loco + passenger: power, ETCS, crash | Since 2023 ETCS L2 Baseline 3 for new cross-border authorisations |
| TSI Noise | Pass-by, blocks | Composite mandatory on many relations since 2024 |
| TSI PRM | Access, not primarily freight | Mixed consists / workshop staff areas |
Official hub: ERA, Technical Specifications for Interoperability. Keeper duties also sit in the AEG; fund shells stay KAGB/BaFin — not the TSI.
ETCS / ERTMS
Level 1 (Eurobalise + cab), Level 2 (radio block, no national islands on the core corridor), Level 3 (moving block, still rare). Roadmap: TEN-T core by 2030, full network 2040 — the same clock as the TEN-T performance standards that back the swap-body CT tailwind.
Capex: €250–400k typical retrofit, €350–500k on complex multi-system legacy. Without ETCS, PL↔DE and CZ↔SK drop out. Premium rent sits on factory Baseline 3 (Vectron MS, Dragon 2).
National authorisations
Since 2019 ERA runs the vehicle One-Stop Shop. The NSA stays national: EBA (DE), UTK (PL), DSA (CZ). Cross-border means one ERA file, several network rules, four power systems.
For the asset manager the keeper/ECM role counts as much as TSI conformity. Dossiers run ERA + UTK; the keeper/ECM role counts as much as TSI conformity.