Strengthening safety inspection of high-risk parts of railway vehicles... Reduce duplicate tests

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to ease the burden on manufacturers by reducing unnecessary duplicate inspections instead of strengthening inspections of parts with a high risk of accident in railway vehicles.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 10th that it has prepared a plan to improve the railway vehicle type approval system to increase the safety and industrial competitiveness of railway vehicles.

Type approval, introduced in 2014, is a system that verifies whether railway vehicle designs meet the minimum safety and performance standards set by the country.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to first classify major safety parts into four levels according to accident risk to strengthen inspections for high-risk parts and reduce the inspection burden for low-risk parts by using manufacturer test results.

A grading system will be established at the end of this year, and after pilot application next year, the technical standards will be revised in stages from 2028.

The impact on the entire vehicle when replacing major components or changing design is verified, and safety inspection of parts vulnerable to heat waves and cold waves is also strengthened.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has decided not to repeat the same inspection during completion inspection for parts whose safety has been confirmed during the type approval process.

In addition, starting next year, a digital approval system that allows real-time inspection progress will be fully introduced. Starting next month, inspection procedures and time required will be provided to new manufacturers and importers, and inspection period guidelines will be provided starting from the first half of next year.

In order to support the overseas expansion of railway vehicles, domestic technical standards will be gradually improved to match European standards (TSI). Expand domestic testing facilities and equipment. We plan to reduce certification costs for companies by promoting overseas recognition of domestic test reports.

On-site inspection of the manufacturer's quality control system is strengthened, and in the event of a major accident or failure, an external expert verifies the adequacy of the inspection. Starting next year, a third-party evaluation system will be introduced for all inspection work.

Kim Tae-byeong, director of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Railway Bureau, said he would strengthen safety verification of high-risk parts and quality control in the vehicle production process, while reducing duplicate inspections and expanding the domestic testing and certification base to increase railway safety and industrial competitiveness.