Assessment Body (AsBo) for the railway market

Assessment Body, AsBo

AFRY is an accredited Assessment Body, a service offered to railway operators and vehicle owners who wish to have their equipment authorized for use in the Swedish railway system.

AFRY is an accredited Assessment Body (AsBo), a service offered to railway operators and vehicle owners who wish to have their equipment authorized for use in the European railway system.

To increase safety in the European railway system, the European Union regulates risk management for changes applied to vehicles using the railway system. The EU Common Safety Method (CSM-RA) states that the risk assessment, if the change is deemed to be of sufficient dignity (significant), must be reviewed by an independent safety assessor (AsBo).

The European Commission Common Safety Method on Risk Evaluation and Assessment Regulation 402/2013 (CSM-RA), as amended by Regulation 2015/1136, provides a legal obligation and mandatory framework for evaluating and assessing the risk associated with significant engineering, operational and organisational changes to the EU railways. The CSM-RA regulation introduces the role, Proposer, which is the entity responsible for the change.

An Assessment Body (AsBo) is an independent party appointed to assess the Proposers application of the hazard management safety risk process applied during a project. The assessment will determine the project's compliance with the CSM-RA regulations. The final output is a Safety Assessment Report.

AFRY has signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a voluntary implementation of Recommendations for Use applicable to AsBos, this in order to be prepared for the future revision of the CSM-RA.

AFRY’s role as AsBo is based on an accreditation to EN ISO/IEC 17020:2012 where independence and impartiality are required. AFRY’s accreditation is endorsed by SWEDAC which is the national accreditation body for Sweden and has the following credentials:

Accred.nr. 1993

Inspection

ISO/IEC17020 (C)

AFRY act within the sub systems Rolling Stock (RST), Control Command and Signalling (CCS), Energy (ENE) and safe integration.

AFRY are preparing for expansion to also include sub system Maintenance within the accreditation.

Link to accreditation in ERADIS (European Railway Agency Database of Interoperability and Safety).

Independent Reviewer Designated Body Sweden, DeBo SE

A Designated Body (DeBo) assess compliance to National Technical Rules (NTRs), open points in the TSI’s, specific cases and compatibility requirements for the Swedish railway network.

A DeBo controls the subsystem on the basis of a pre-determined process. The processes are described by the Swedish Transport Agency's regulations, and it is the person applying for the control who chooses which process to use.

As of January 20, 2023 AFRY is appointed DeBo within Control Command and Signalling (CCS) and Rolling Stock (RST) by the Swedish NSA.

Link to appointment in RDD (Reference Document Database)