The Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations 2010

Made: 9th March 2010

Laid before Parliament: 12th March 2010

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 .

The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to measures relating to railways and railway transport.

PART 1 — GENERAL

Citation and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations 2010.

• (2) Subject to regulation 39 (transitional provisions), these Regulations come into force on 6th April 2010.

Interpretation

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In these Regulations—

• “the 1974 Act” means the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ;

• “British Channel Tunnel zone” means the part of the tunnel system within Great Britain together with the network—from the tunnel system to and including Ashford International station for railway passenger services using the tunnel system, orfrom the tunnel system to and including Dollands Moor freight yard for services for the carriage of goods by rail using the tunnel system;

• “Channel Tunnel train driving certificate” means a train driving certificate which authorises the holder to drive a train in the Channel Tunnel zone;

• “Channel Tunnel train driving licence” means a train driving licence which is held by a person who is at any time deployed by a railway undertaking or infrastructure manager to drive a train in the Channel Tunnel zone;

• “Channel Tunnel zone” means the British Channel Tunnel zone together with the French Channel Tunnel zone;

• ...

• “the Department for Infrastructure” means the Department renamed as such by the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 and originally established as the Department for Regional Development by article 3(1) of the Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999

• “the Directive” means Directive 2007/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the certification of train drivers operating locomotives and trains on the railway system in the Community as amended from time to time, before and after IP completion day;

• “employed” means engaged to do something whether under a contract of employment, or as an independent contractor or as a volunteer and related expressions must be construed accordingly;

• “European train driving licence” means a licence, issued by a safety authority in accordance with article 14 of the Directive, indicating the holder satisfies medical, educational and professional skills requirements for train driving;

• “French Channel Tunnel zone” means the part of the tunnel system within France together with the network—from the tunnel system to and including Calais-Fréthun station for railway passenger services using the tunnel system, orfrom the tunnel system to and including Fréthun freight yard for services for the carriage of goods using the tunnel system;

• “French licensing authority” means the body responsible for granting European train driving licences in France;

• “in code form” is a reference to a code representing additional information or a medical restriction, as provided for in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 36/2010 on Community models for train driving licences, complementary certificates, certified copies of complementary certificates and application forms for train driving licences, under Directive 2007/59/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, as that Annex to that Regulation is amended from time to time;

• “infrastructure manager” means the holder of a safety authorisation issued by—the ORR in accordance with regulation 10 or 12 of ROGS; orthe Intergovernmental Commission pursuant to the requirements of article 27 of the Regulation set out in the Schedule to the Channel Tunnel (Safety) Order 2007 ;

• “Intergovernmental Commission” means the Commission established under article 10 of the Treaty of Canterbury of 12th February 1986 to supervise, in the name and on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the French Republic, all matters concerning the construction and operation of the Channel Tunnel;

• “mainline railway” has the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of ROGS but includes the “tunnel system” within the meaning of section 1(7) of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 ;

• “network” has the meaning given in section 83(1) of the Railways Act 1993;

• “Northern Ireland train driving licence” means a licence issued by the Department for Infrastructure under the Northern Ireland Regulations indicating that the holder satisfies medical, educational and professional skills for train driving;

• “the Northern Ireland Regulations” means the Train Driving Licences and Certificates Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010;

• “ORR” means the Office of Rail and Road;

• “railway passenger service” has the meaning given in section 83(1) of the Railways Act 1993;

• “railway undertaking” means the holder of—a safety certificate issued by the ORR in accordance with regulation 7 or 9 of ROGS; ora Part B certificate issued by the Intergovernmental Commission pursuant to the requirements of article 39(ii) of the Regulation set out in the Schedule to the Channel Tunnel (Safety) Order 2007;

• “Recast Safety Directive” means Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council on railway safety (recast);

• “recognised doctor” means a registered medical practitioner whose name appears in a register of doctors that the ORR has published, or caused to be published, under regulation 23(1);

• “recognised examiner” means a person whose name appears in a register of examiners that the ORR has published, or caused to be published, under regulation 23(1);

• “recognised psychologist” means a person who holds the qualification of the British Psychological Society Certificate in Occupational Testing (Level A) and whose name appears in a register of psychologists that the ORR has published, or caused to be published, under regulation 23(1);

• “recognised trainer” means a person whose name appears in a register of trainers that the ORR has published, or caused to be published, under regulation 23(1);

• “relevant European train driving licence” means a European train driving licence which is held by a driver who is at any time deployed by a railway undertaking or infrastructure manager to drive trains in the Channel Tunnel zone;

• “ROGS” means the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 ;

• “safety authority” means an authority established in an EEA state, other than the Intergovernmental Commission, in accordance with article 16(1) of Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on safety on the Community's railways and amending Directive 95/18 EC on the licensing of railway undertakings and Directive 2001/14/EC on the allocation of infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification or article 16(1) of the Recast Safety Directive;

• “safety management system” in relation to a railway undertaking or infrastructure manager means the organisation and arrangements established by it, under regulation 5 of ROGS or articles 22 to 25 of the Channel Tunnel (Safety) Order 2007, to ensure the safe management of its operation;

• “train” includes a locomotive, a shunting locomotive, a work train and a maintenance railway vehicle;

• “train driving certificate” means a certificate issued by a railway undertaking or infrastructure manager under these Regulations indicating the infrastructure on which the holder is authorised to drive and the types of train which the holder is authorised to drive;

• “train driving licence” means a licence issued by or on behalf of the ORR under these Regulations indicating that the holder satisfies medical, educational and professional skills requirements for train driving;

• “transitional period” means the period commencing on exit day and expiring at the end of two years.

Application and extent

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• (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), these Regulations apply in relation to the driving of trains on the mainline railway.

• (1A) These Regulations do not apply in relation to the driving of trains which the Office of Rail and Road has determined under regulation 2A(2) of ROGS are deemed not to operate on the mainline railway.

• (2) These Regulations do not apply in relation to the driving of trains on track which is temporarily closed to normal traffic for the purpose of maintaining, renewing or upgrading railway infrastructure.

• (3) These Regulations do not extend to Northern Ireland.

PART 2 — LICENSING AND CERTIFICATION OF TRAIN DRIVERS

Requirement for licences and certificates

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (12), a railway undertaking or infrastructure manager must not deploy a person to drive a train unless that person is authorised to do so—

• (a) by a train driving licence;

• (b) by a Northern Ireland train driving licence; or

• (c) in the British Channel Tunnel zone, by a European train driving licence.

• (2) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (12), a railway undertaking must not deploy a person to drive a particular type of train, or to drive a train on particular infrastructure, unless that person is authorised to do so by a train driving certificate issued by it.

• (3) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (12), an infrastructure manager must not deploy a person to drive a particular type of train, or to drive a train on particular infrastructure, unless that person is authorised to do so by a train driving certificate issued by it.

• (4) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (12) a person must not drive a train unless that person is authorised to do so by—

• (a) a train driving licence, a Northern Ireland train driving licence, or, in the British Channel Tunnel zone, a European train driving licence; and

• (b) a train driving certificate for the type of train driven and the infrastructure driven on, issued by the railway undertaking or infrastructure manager by whom that person is deployed to drive a train.

• (4A) For the purposes of paragraphs (5) (6) (8) (12) and (13) a train driving licence includes a Northern Ireland train driving licence and, in the British Channel Tunnel zone, a European train driving licence.

• (4B) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (12)—

• (a) a railway undertaking or an infrastructure manager must not deploy a person to drive a particular type of train in the French Channel Tunnel zone unless that person is authorised to drive that type of train in that zone by a train driving certificate issued by it; and

• (b) a person must not drive a particular type of train in the French Channel Tunnel zone unless that person is authorised to drive that type of train in that zone by a train driving certificate issued by the railway undertaking or infrastructure manager by whom that person is deployed to drive a train.

• (5) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (12), a person who drives a train must have the required train driving licence and train driving certificate with them whilst driving it, or otherwise be able on board the train to satisfy the ORR, or their inspector duly appointed under regulation 38, that they are so authorised to drive the train by the required train driving licence and train driving certificate.

• (6) Subject to paragraphs (7) and (12), a railway undertaking, or infrastructure manager, must take reasonable steps to ensure that a person it deploys to drive a train has the required train driving licence and train driving certificate with them whilst driving it, or are otherwise able to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (5).

• (7) Subject to paragraph (8), and if a railway undertaking so decides, a train driver it deploys to drive a train on specific infrastructure need not be authorised by a train driving certificate to drive it on that infrastructure in the following cases—

• (a) where a disturbance to railway services has occurred which requires the re-routing of the train or the maintenance of tracks, as specified by the infrastructure manager concerned;

• (b) an exceptional one-off service which uses a historical train;

• (c) an exceptional one-off freight service provided that the infrastructure manager concerned has agreed;

• (d) the delivery of, or demonstration of, a new train; or

• (e) to enable the training or the examination of the train driver.

• (8) Paragraph (7) does not apply unless—

• (a) subject to paragraph (9), another train driver, who holds a train driving licence and a train driving certificate relating to the specific infrastructure, accompanies and supervises the driver in the cab whilst the train is driven on that infrastructure; and

• (b) the infrastructure manager of the specific infrastructure is given prior notice.

• (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (10) An infrastructure manager may not oblige a railway undertaking to make a decision under paragraph (7).

• (11) A Northern Ireland train driving licence or, in the British Channel Tunnel zone, a European train driving licence issued on the basis of an exemption from the medical requirements set out in Schedule 1 is not valid in Great Britain, and the holding of such a licence will not satisfy the requirements of paragraphs (1) or (4)(a).

• (12) A person who is training to be train driver (“the trainee driver”) may drive a train without being authorised to do so by a train driving licence and a train driving certificate provided that an authorised driver—

• (a) accompanies and supervises the trainee driver in the cab whilst the trainee driver drives the train, and

• (b) complies with the requirements of paragraph (5) as if the authorised driver was the driver of the train.

• (13) Subject to paragraph (14), in paragraph (12) “authorised driver” means a train driver who is authorised to drive the train by a train driving licence and a train driving certificate issued by the railway undertaking, or infrastructure manager, for whom the train is driven relating to the type of train driven and the infrastructure driven on.

• (14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Licence and certificate characteristics

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• (1) The form of a train driving licence and a train driving certificate issued under these Regulations must comply with the requirements set out in Schedule 2.

• (2) In particular, a train driving certificate must show the categories of train which the train driver may drive comprising either or both of—

• (a) Category A – shunting locomotives, work trains, maintenance railway vehicles and all other locomotives when they are used for shunting; and

• (b) Category B – trains for the carriage of passengers or goods or both.

Ownership of licence

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A train driving licence is owned by the holder to whom it is issued.

Ownership of certificate

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A train driving certificate is owned by the railway undertaking or infrastructure manager which issues it to the holder.

PART 3 — CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING LICENCES AND CERTIFICATES

Conditions for obtaining a licence

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• (1) The ORR may only issue a train driving licence to an applicant if it is satisfied the applicant fulfils the conditions indicated in paragraph (2), and must issue one if so satisfied.

• (2) The conditions are that the applicant has—

• (a) attained the age of 20 years;

• (b) completed at least nine years' education (primary and secondary);

• (c) successfully completed basic training equivalent to at least level 3 referred to in Council Decision 85/368/EEC on the comparability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States of the European Community ;

• (d) passed the required medical examination;

• (e) passed the required occupational psychological fitness examination; and

• (f) passed the required general professional competence examination.

• (3) For the purpose of paragraph (2)(d) the required medical examination means a medical examination that covers the criteria set out in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1, includes the minimum content set out in paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 1 and is conducted by or under the supervision of a recognised doctor.

• (4) For the purpose of paragraph (2)(e) the required occupational psychological fitness examination means an examination that includes the minimum content set out in paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 and is conducted by or under the supervision of a recognised psychologist or recognised doctor.

• (5) For the purpose of paragraph (2)(f) the required general professional competence examination means:

• (a) an examination that covers the objectives and requirements set out in Schedule 3; or

• (b) an aptitude test pursuant to Part 2 of the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023, where there is a significant difference between the applicant’s professional knowledge and the objectives and requirements set out in Schedule 3.

• (6) For the purposes of this regulation an aptitude test means a test, limited to the professional knowledge of a train driver specified by the ORR with the aim of ensuring that the applicant’s knowledge covers the objectives and requirements set out in Schedule 3.

Conditions for obtaining a certificate

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