Standardisation

Unified standards are incredibly important in a business that relies as heavily on interoperability as railway traffic.

VPI and its member companies are active in many ways within European and international standardisation bodies, engaging with the technical work of the relevant committees, working groups and associations as well as in their management. We lend our technical expertise and experience when it comes to shaping the technical contents of standards at the national, European and international levels.

The industry needs sound standards for the construction, maintenance and operation of railway systems. Standards make a significant contribution to ensuring the market viability of innovative solutions. Not by chance was the first standard locomotive (produced in 1925) one of the milestones in the history of DIN, the standardisation institute for German industry.

The work of the DIN Standards Committee Railway (FSF) is pivotal for standardisation in the construction, maintenance and operation of railway systems in Germany. The main mission of DIN Railway is consensus-based standardisation work along with coordination of the extensive range of disciplines involved. This committee represents the interests of the sector with respect to the Deutsches Institut für Normung e. V. (DIN), the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The “Verein für Normung und Weiterentwicklung des Bahnwesens – NWB e. V.” [Association for Standardisation and Development of the Railway Industry] serves as the sponsoring organisation of DIN Railway, and VPI is a founding member of this association.

More information about standardisation work can be found on the website of the DIN Standards Committee Railway (FSF).