Updating the rules for cross-border train travel

🚂 The Big Picture: Why Does This Matter?

The European Union (EU) is part of a global group called OTIF. This organization creates the international rulebook that allows trains to travel safely across borders, from one country to the next.

On June 9, 2026, experts will meet in Switzerland to decide on several updates to this global rulebook.

The EU's main goal is simple: to make sure that international train rules match high EU safety standards. This prevents legal conflicts and ensures that trains can cross borders smoothly and safely.

🗳️ What is the EU Voting On?

The meeting will decide on six specific changes. Here is a breakdown of what each change is, and how the EU plans to vote on it.

1. How the Committee Works (Internal Rules)

• What's changing: The internal rules for the expert committee itself.
• EU Vote: Yes, but with a condition.
• The Condition: The EU wants to extend the deadline for receiving documents from 8 weeks to 12 weeks. This gives EU officials more time to prepare their input properly.

2. Cargo Trains (Freight Wagons)

• What's changing: Technical standards for trains that carry goods.
• EU Vote: Yes, but with a condition.
• The Condition: The EU wants to simplify some unnecessary text and add specific safety rules for devices used to secure semi-trailers (the trailers attached to the trains).

3. Passenger & Staff Trains (Locomotives)

• What's changing: Technical standards for trains carrying people.
• EU Vote: Yes, but with a condition.
• The Condition: The EU insists on adding a requirement that all trains must be equipped with self-rescue devices for passengers and crew that meet specific safety standards.

4. Technical Certificates (Proof of Safety)

• What's changing: Creating a new, standardized format for the documents that prove a train is safe to travel internationally.
• EU Vote: No.
• The Reason: The EU believes the term "certificate" is confusing because it means different things in EU law and international law. They want to rethink the terminology to avoid legal confusion.

5. Digital Tracking (Telematics)

• What's changing: Rules for how trains are tracked digitally and how data is shared between train operators and infrastructure managers.
• EU Vote: Yes.
• The Reason: This vote aligns the international rules with the latest technical guidelines published by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).

6. The Implementation Handbook (The Guidebook)

• What's changing: Updating the main guidebook that explains how to use all the rules.
• EU Vote: Yes, but with a condition.
• The Condition: The EU wants to fix internal links (cross-references), clarify that the rules only apply to international traffic, and add a note that local EU rules must still be respected where allowed.

💡 Why Should I Care? (The Impact)

These votes are crucial because they affect three main areas:

• Safety: They ensure that whether a train is carrying goods or people, it meets the highest safety standards across all borders.
• Legal Clarity: By voting carefully, the EU prevents international rules from contradicting existing European laws.
• Efficiency: Changes to the internal rules and the guidebook aim to make the process of approving new trains smoother and less complicated.

⚖️ Summary of the EU's Stance

The EU is generally supportive of updating the rules because it helps align international law with EU law. However, the EU is protective of its own legal standards.

• The EU will vote AGAINST the new certificate format due to legal confusion.
• The EU will vote FOR the other updates, but only if specific safety conditions are added to ensure they match EU regulations.

Broader context

This proposal for a Council Decision on OTIF’s 18th CTE meeting is part of a long‑running effort to keep international train‑safety rules in line with EU law. The EU joined the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) and its technical appendices (like UTPs and uniform rules APTU/ATMF) so that trains can cross borders without each country having to agree fresh safety checks every time. When OTIF changes its technical rules (for freight wagons, locomotives, passenger coaches, or digital tracking systems), those changes can affect EU Directives on rail safety and interoperability, so the EU must formally decide its voting position in OTIF. data.consilium.europa

OTIF’s Committee of Technical Experts (CTE) is the technical body that fine‑tunes these rules, while the EU Council formally instructs the European Commission on how to vote on the EU’s behalf. The current proposal is therefore one “slice” of a larger, ongoing process: the EU wants to support international harmonisation, but it also wants to keep EU‑specific requirements (such as its own safety standards and certificate‑issuing rules) clearly protected. data.consilium.europa

Over recent years, the EU has repeatedly adopted similar decisions on OTIF meetings, updating positions on telematics, freight tracking, dangerous‑goods transport, and technical‑safety prescriptions, so the pattern here is not new but part of a routine “alignment cycle” between EU law and international rail rules. parliament

Impact on people living in the EU

For people living in the EU, these rule changes mainly translate into safer, smoother international train trips and freight transport. The updated freight‑wagon and passenger‑train rules, plus the self‑rescue‑device requirement and semi‑trailer‑securing rules, mean that trains crossing borders are built and equipped to clearer, stricter safety standards, which reduces the risk of derailments, cargo‑loss, or passenger‑injury. The digital‑tracking update (telematics) helps rail operators and infrastructure managers share train‑position and freight‑status data more efficiently, which can reduce delays and improve reliability for both passengers and goods. otif

The EU’s refusal to accept the proposed uniform certificate format, and its insistence on fixing cross‑references and clarifying where domestic/EU rules still apply, is mainly a legal‑clarity measure. It means that national authorities and companies will not be confused about whether an EU‑type‑certificate or an international OTIF‑certificate is required, which in turn helps avoid unlawful vehicles circulating on the network and supports fair competition among rail operators. Together, these technical‑level changes make cross‑border rail travel and freight more predictable, safer, and less likely to be disrupted by legal mismatches between OTIF and EU rules. legislation.gov

Impact on people living outside the EU

People living in certain non‑EU countries that are members of OTIF (such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and some neighbouring states) will also be affected because the updated OTIF rules apply to international trains that run between those countries and the EU. When the EU insists on specific safety conditions (for example, self‑rescue devices or strengthened semi‑trailer securing), rail operators in those countries may need to adapt their locomotives, wagons, or coaching stock if they want to keep running trains into the EU. At the same time, the harmonised telematics and safety rules can make cross‑border services smoother for passengers and freight clients in those countries, reducing paperwork and delays at the border. traficom

Governments and rail companies in non‑EU OTIF countries may need additional time and investment to align their rolling stock and digital systems with the new international standards, but once aligned they benefit from the same higher‑safety, better‑interoperable network that the EU is promoting. data.consilium.europa