Interface Agreements
Who is required to enter into an interface agreement?
Under the Rail Safety Act 2008 rail transport operators are required to seek to enter into interface agreements with other rail transport operators, for the purpose of managing risks to safety that may arise from their operations, where those risks are caused wholly or partly by the railway operations carried out by or on behalf of the other rail transport operator(s).
In addition, the Rail Safety Act 2008 requires rail infrastructure managers and roads authorities to seek to enter into interface agreements in relation to managing risks to safety that may arise because of the existence or use of any rail or road crossings on public roads, or road work on those roads.
Rail infrastructure managers and roads authorities may also enter into interface agreements in relation to rail or road crossings on Crown roads and private roads.
What is a rail or road crossing?
A rail or road crossing is a rail crossing, that is a level crossing or any area where a footpath crosses a railway or tram tracks at substantially the same level, or a bridge carrying a road over a railway or bridge carrying a railway over a road.
Who are rail transport operators, rail infrastructure managers and roads authorities?
A rail transport operator is a person who is a rail infrastructure manager, a rolling stock operator, or both.
A rail infrastructure manager means the person who has effective management and control of rail infrastructure of a railway, whether or not the person owns the rail infrastructure or has a statutory or contractual right to use the rail infrastructure or to control, or provide, access to it.
A rolling stock operator means a person who has effective management and control of the operation or movement of rolling stock on rail infrastructure for a particular railway, but does not include a person merely because the person drives the rolling stock or controls the network or the network signals.
In relation to a public road ‘roads authority’ means the person identified in the Roads Act 1993, and in relation to a private road ‘roads authority’ means the owner of the road.
What is an interface agreement?
An interface agreement is a written agreement for managing the risks to safety from the interface of the following:
- railway operations carried out by and on behalf of different rail transport operators; and
- railway operations with public or private roads, at rail or road crossings.
As a minimum an interface agreement must include provisions for:
- implementing and maintaining measures to manage those risks
- the evaluation, testing and, where appropriate, revision, of those measures
- the respective roles and responsibilities of each party to the agreement in relation to those measures
- procedures by which each party to the agreement will monitor and determine whether the other party complies with its obligations under the agreement and
- a process for keeping the agreement under review and its revision.
To assist rail infrastructure managers and roads authorities, ITSRR has developed a template interface agreement for rail or road crossings and guidance on how to use it.
What are the transitional arrangements for interface agreements relating to rail or road crossings?
The requirement for rail infrastructure managers and roads authorities to seek to enter into interface agreements in relation to rail or road crossings does not apply until 1 January 2012.
Rail infrastructure managers and roads authorities for public roads should begin identifying rail or road crossings and identifying and assessing risks to safety that may arise because of those rail or road crossings well in advance of the 2012 commencement date.
- Presentation – Interface Agreements
- Template Interface Agreement
- Using the Template Interface Agreement