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Mr. Franz-Josef Schafhausen, former Director General Climate Change, European and International Affairs, Federal German Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

Ricardo Certification to perform assurance role for Serbian high-speed rail link

20th January 2018 by CMIA

It can be revealed that Ricardo has been appointed to provide Notified Body services for the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed rail upgrade project.

Since it first opened to international traffic in the nineteenth century, the 350km Belgrade-Budapest line has operated as a vital rail corridor between Central- and South-East Europe. However, its present-day infrastructure means that journey times between the two cities for passenger and freight services can take up to eight hours.

Following the proposed upgrade of the line – which will support speeds of up to 200km/h – direct journey times between the two European capitals will be substantially reduced to around three hours. The full extent of the line will be developed in three stages, with work in Serbia recently commenced.

Key assurance role
Following a decision by the Serbian rail authorities to adopt the European Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs), a Notified Body is required to act as an independent third-party, conducting verification activities during its planning, construction and testing.

The joint stock company for public railway infrastructure management (“Infrastructure of Serbian Railways” JSC) has selected Ricardo Certification to perform the Notified Body role for the railway’s Serbian section – the 184km section of the route between Belgrade and the border with Hungary.

“We are pleased that Ricardo has been selected to support this important European rail infrastructure project,” commented Michiel Vernooij, business manager of Ricardo Certification. “The work will be carried out using our accredited Notified Body processes, and our team of expert assessors verified as possessing the required level of competence. We look forward to working with Infrastructure of Serbian Railways through to the completion of this section of the high-speed rail upgrade.”

Ricardo Certification operates as a separate and entirely independent business within the Ricardo group and is accredited by relevant regulatory authorities to provide assurance services to the rail industry. It is accredited and appointed in multiple regions against the requirements of EN17065 and EN17020.

Source: https://ricardo.com/news-and-media/press-releases/ricardo-certification-to-perform-assurance-role-fo