NB-Rail Association

The NB-Rail Association is an international non-profit organization of the notified bodies for interoperability in the railway sector. The association is installed to support and to complement the activities of NB-Rail coordination group with activities not mandated in the mentioned basics. The detailed objectives are:

a) to relate with the railway relevant professional organizations and associations like UNIFE, CER, UIC, CEN, CENELEC and others as well as with official bodies like the European Rail Agency ERA, the European Commission – here also with other General Directorates than DG Move – the European parliament and the Council and their representatives and make the work of the NB-Rail coordination group visible to those organizations, associations and stakeholders;

b) to establish the association as a representative body with these organizations, associations and agencies, as Article 28 of Directive 2008/57/EC does not provide for establishing the NB-Rail coordination group as a stakeholder;

c) to support the coordination of the notified bodies to harmonize the procedures for conformity assessment and suitability for the use of interoperability constituents as well as the procedures for the assessment of the subsystems;

d) to make proposals and ensure co-ordination and development of studies and scientific enquiries to improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of notified bodies certification;

e) to ensure cooperation in the standardization of the notification scheme for notified bodies;

f) to ensure cooperation for the improvement and the standardization of information systems which hold data on certifications and which are used to improve certification consistency;

g) to provide easy access to NB-Rail public documents via an internet web page;

h) to share information regarding the objectives and organize conferences or workshops.