Railway applications — welding of railway vehicles and components

Why railway has its own standard

Because the consequence of a failed weld on a running vehicle is not comparable to a failed weld on a warehouse frame, and because the sector’s supply chain is deep enough to need a common language between vehicle builder and sub-supplier.

EN 15085 is issued in parts covering general requirements, the requirements for the welding manufacturer and its certification, design, production, and inspection and testing.

Certification levels

A manufacturer is certified at CL1 through CL4 depending on the weld performance classes it intends to produce. The level determines the qualifications required of the welding coordination personnel, the extent of examination, and the depth of the quality system.

Sub-suppliers are inside the scope. A shop welding a bracket for a bogie frame is doing railway work and is assessed as such.

Welding coordination

The requirement for responsible welding coordination under ISO 14731 is enforced more tightly here than in general fabrication. Named individuals, with defined competence and defined authority, and a deputy — the function must survive somebody being on holiday.

What has to be recordable

• The weld performance class of each joint, and the certification level it demands
• Welding coordination personnel, their qualification and their assigned authority
• Procedures and welder qualifications valid for the classes being produced
• Examination at the extent the class requires
• Traceability from the finished component back through every joint in it

For an Italian supply chain

This is not a marginal regime. A fabricator in the north of Italy supplying rolling-stock builders is very likely doing EN 15085 work alongside EN 1090 work, in the same shop, with the same welders — under two different rulebooks. That is exactly the case the platform is designed for: one backbone, the regime as a layer.