UK National Vehicle Register and National On-Track Plant Register
National Vehicle Register
EU Interoperability Directive 2008/57/EC Article 33 mandates that each EU Member State appoints a Registration Entity (RE) that is responsible for creating and maintaining a National Vehicle Register (NVR). In 2008 the Minister of State designated Network Rail Infrastructure Limited as the RE for Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to establish and maintain the GB NVR. The EU mandate has been retained in UK legislation following the UK's exit from the EU on 31/01/2020, and is referenced by the UK's Rail Interoperability Regulations 2011 (RIR 2011) and The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS).
The RE is also responsible for issuing Unique Vehicle Numbers (EVNs) for all rail vehicles, conforming to the rules laid out in EU Commission Decision 2007/756/EC.
When a vehicle is authorised for placing into service by the National Safety Authority (NSA), an entry in the NVR is mandated. The NSA for GB is the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The NVR links to the European Virtual Vehicle Register, thus allowing visibility of all vehicles authorised in any EU Member State within Europe.
Access to the National Vehicle Register is on a role-type basis.
All requests for access to the National Vehicle Register should be made by email to nvr@networkrail.co.uk.
R2
Operation of rail vehicles on the GB mainline railway is managed through the R2 system (replacing the Rolling Stock Library). R2 connects directly to UK operational systems such as TOPS, TRUST and GEMINI. For organisations that do not have access to R2, access can be requested via the RSSB R2 registration page.
RIS-2453-RST is the GB industry standard that describes:
- How vehicles are registered on R2;
- How vehicles are allocated GB vehicle numbers;
- How data is displayed on vehicle markings.
This standard is available from the RSSB standards catalogue.
National On-Track Plant Register
The National On-Track Plant Register contains all Road-Rail Vehicles, Rail-Mounted Maintenance Machines, Trailers and Attachments authorised to operate on Network Rail infrastructure, in accordance with Rail Industry Standard RIS-1530-PLT. This standard is available from the RSSB standards catalogue.
The On-Track Plant Register holds a variety of vehicle information relating to physical characteristics, as well as acting as the national repository for all issued Engineering Conformance Certificates (ECCs). The ECCs are the formal time-limited authorisations for the vehicles to operate on NR infrastructure, and normally expire after a maximum of seven years, at which point re-authorisation of the vehicles will then be required.
Access to the On-Track Plant Register is on a role-type basis.
All requests for access to the National On-Track Plant Register should be made by email to POVNumbers@networkrail.co.uk.