Technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs)

General

Railways used to be based largely on national regulations and requirements. The purpose of the new European regulations is to standardise subsystems or components in order to reduce the cost of railways and to increase competitiveness, as well as to make it possible for trains to run between different member states without technical obstacles. International traffic will be facilitated when harmonisation is complete. These TSI applies to railways, not to tramways and metros.

TSI requirements

Technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs) set out what is required in order to meet the essential requirements laid down in Directive 96/48/EC and Directive 2001/16/EC. The specifications are divided into different subsystems, such as control command and signalling, infrastructure, and energy. The first part of each TSI reproduces the legislative wording of the Commission’s decision. The second part lays down the technical specifications.