Article 1

This Directive sets out to establish the conditions to be met to achieve interoperability within the Community rail system in a manner compatible with the provisions of Directive 2004/49/EC. These conditions concern the design, construction, placing in service, upgrading, renewal, operation and maintenance of the parts of this system as well as the professional qualifications and health and safety conditions of the staff who contribute to its operation and maintenance. The pursuit of this objective must lead to the definition of an optimal level of technical harmonisation and make it possible to: facilitate, improve and develop international rail transport services within the European Union and with third countries; contribute to the progressive creation of the internal market in equipment and services for the construction, renewal, upgrading and operation of the rail system within the Community; contribute to the interoperability of the rail system within the Community. Member States may exclude from the measures they adopt in implementation of this Directive: metros, trams and other light rail systems; networks that are functionally separate from the rest of the railway system and intended only for the operation of local, urban or suburban passenger services, as well as railway undertakings operating solely on these networks; privately owned railway infrastructure and vehicles exclusively used on such infrastructure that exist solely for use by the owner for its own freight operations; infrastructure and vehicles reserved for a strictly local, historical or touristic use. The scope of the TSIs shall be progressively extended in accordance with Article 8 to the whole rail system, including track access to terminals and main port facilities serving or potentially serving more than one user, without prejudice to the derogations to the application of TSIs as listed in Article 9.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-29 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.