6 Operations

6.1 Introduction

This part contains regulations for operations and disruptions to scheduled operations.

6.2 Operational Rules

6.2.1 Railway undertakings’ obligation to apply TJN

Railway undertakings are obliged to comply with Bane NOR’s applicable traffic rules and other operating rules applicable to the rail network rail networkThe rail network managed by Bane NOR, which is the entire Norwegian rail network..
Bane NOR may grant dispensations from the traffic rules in special circumstances. Dispensations may not be granted for rules pursuant to TSI-Ope. Applications must be submitted to the Traffic Division, Operations and Traffic Safety Unit. 

6.2.1.1 Changes to traffic rules issued by Bane NOR

See the assessment instructions.

Bane NOR uses the assessment instruction as a basis when preparing Bane NOR’s traffic rules, but the assessment instruction does not limit Bane NOR’s right to decide on amendments in accordance with authority granted by laws and regulations.

Amendments to the traffic rules that are made as a necessary consequence of implementation of regulatory requirements, such as the common European rules in TSI-Ope, will not normally be subject to consultation under the auspices of Bane NOR. In such instances, a consultation will be held by the authority which establishes the regulation.

Descriptions of technical facilities, local procedures or installations will not normally be subject to consultation. The same is true of amendments to these.

6.2.2 Requirements for permanently available transport management

Bane NOR requires railway undertakings to have transport management which is immediately available at the times of the day when trains operate.

The transport management must have all authorisations allowing them to make decisions for the purpose of being able to bring abnormal situations to a close so that any negative effects of the abnormality are as minor and as short-lived as possible.

Railway undertakings must provide Bane NOR with necessary contact information for their own transport management. Undertakings are responsible for ensuring that this contact information is kept up to date at all times.

Any changes to contact information will be reported to sirkulaerer@banenor.no. Changes will be updated within 14 days of being reported.

6.3 Operational Measures

See the Railway Regulations, Section 10-4.

In the event of disruptions, it is in the common interest of Bane NOR and the railway undertakings to restore the intended rail services, punctuality and regularity as quickly as possible. Possible measures for achieving this include prioritising trains, cancelling trains and rerouting trains.

6.3.1 Principles

Good punctuality and regularity are important requirements for Bane NOR’s and the railway undertakings’ reputations and financial situations and are a crucial requirement for achieving the best possible capacity utilisation.

One crucial requirement for good punctuality is that agreed planning requirements must be met – see Chapter 4.2.1.1. This is particularly important in the Eastern Norway region and in the vicinity of Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim, where there is heavy railway traffic and a high level of rail network rail networkThe rail network managed by Bane NOR, which is the entire Norwegian rail network. capacity utilisation. This must be taken into consideration in the short-term route planning.

Critical delays in a capacity context will vary according to the different line sections and depend on a number of factors such as distances between passing loops, the length of passing loops, the type of safety installation, as well as capacity utilisation and technical requirements for routes. Of the above causes related to technical requirements for routes, critical delays in the Oslo area are defined as delays in excess of three minutes.

6.3.1.1 Priority rules in the event of irregularities in rail services

The purpose of priority rules is to provide guidelines for uniform responses and hence predictability in the handling of irregularities.

Based on experience and a comprehensive evaluation, a train controller must make sure that the services are returned to normal as quickly as possible (general reduction in irregularities).

Where necessary, the train controller must ensure coordination and corresponding prioritisations with other affected central control areas. This is particularly important for trains that are run in transit through the Oslo area.

Officers in the service areas must work in cooperation with relevant railway undertakings to compile action cards to the extent necessary to ensure that major service irregularities are handled consistently.

Detailed prioritisation rules are determined simultaneously with the timetable in question.

6.3.1.2 Guidelines in the event of operational disruptions

The following guidelines have been provided for use by Bane NOR’s operational traffic control in order to restore designated rail services as quickly as possible in the event of disruptions.

6.3.2 Operational regulations

Fundamentally, trains that are on time must continue to be on time.

Taking into account the rotation of vehicles and the impact of this rotation on implementation of the timetable means that this principle must sometimes be abandoned. The further guidelines for exceptions are related to the timetable valid at any given time and are issued by Bane NOR just before each new timetable period. The railway undertakings will be informed of the planned formulation of these guidelines during their participation in the capacity allocation capacity allocationA collective term teferring to the infrastructure manager's planning and allocation of infrastructure capacity as well as access to serice facilities and the services in these. process.

6.3.2.1 The train controller’s right to depart from the operational guidelines due to local conditions

Train controllers may depart from operational guidelines when this is deemed to be justified. The train controller’s authority can be found in TJN, Item 5.3: In certain situations, train controllers may deviate from the traffic rules for the railway network (TJN). This applies to situations in which there is a risk to life or health or where necessary to resolve or avoid a deadlocked traffic situation and there is no increased risk. Train controllers must clearly state which rules are being deviated from. Provisions that state that the rule originates from TSI-OPE cannot be deviated from and where it is stated that the provision originates from Annex A, deviations may not occur in lines with ERTMS.

6.3.2.2 Special measures in the event of disruption

See the Railway Regulations, Section 10-4.

The Railway Regulations, § 10-4, state that if disruptions arise in rail services because of technical faults or accidents, Bane NOR must implement all the necessary measures to restore the normal situation; as well as the other situations in which Bane NOR can or must undertake measures as a consequence of disruptions, including Bane NOR’s ability to withdraw infrastructure capacity and requisition the railway undertaking vehicles in order to restore the normal situation.

When the right of requisition is exercised, the net operation-related costs will only be approved if the railway undertaking subject to the requisition, or any other party for which the undertaking is liable, is not responsible for the cause of the irregularity that has given rise to the requisition.

The costs of exercising Bane NOR’s right of requisition are charged to the party that causes the disruption to rail services.

6.3.3 Disturbances

6.3.3.1 Foreseen problems

Predicted problems in the form of reduced infrastructure capacity must be resolved on the basis of the same prioritisation criteria as in the case of congested infrastructure, but in such a way that service trains running for the purpose of helping to restore the limited infrastructure capacity are given priority over other trains.

Bane NOR and the railway undertakings involved can agree jointly on a different solution.

6.3.3.2 Unforeseen problems

When infrastructure capacity is limited, the same prioritisation criteria apply as when the infrastructure has been declared to be congested, but in such way that service trains running for the purpose of helping to restore the limited infrastructure capacity are given priority over other trains. Temporary traffic management solutions that are drawn up and implemented in the event of reduced infrastructure capacity must be customer-oriented. Quality in operational non-conformity management plays an important role in the railway sector. This means that, in addition to solving the traffic management challenges, there must be an emphasis on accommodating the railway undertakings' customers’ transport needs due to the situation that has arisen.

Appropriate solutions must be accommodated in connection with non-conformity management and these must place the customer at the centre. The railway undertakings’ ability to handle the needs of their customers must form the basis for any plans that are drawn up and implemented. Solutions refers to the running of trains, alternative modes of transport, information and other customer management for both passenger trains and freight trains.

Quality in operational non-conformity management is threefold and applies to 1) the process for drawing up alternative plans prior to a non-conformity, 2) how to operationally manage non-conformities and 3) how the parties will carry out work on measurements, evaluations and improvements.

The chosen solutions, plans and action cards for operational non-conformity management must be in accordance with the safety requirements and provisions, laws or other agreements and regulations to which the parties are subject that are applicable at any time.

See the manual "Quality in Operational Non-Conformity Management" (below) for a detailed description.

For routes and irregularities for which Bane NOR has compiled action cards, these will be followed unless all the parties involved can jointly agree to a different solution. Bane NOR has established an action card group with representatives from the traffic management centres, as well as participants representing railway undertakings. The action cards are reviewed annually together with the undertakings and adapted for the new timetable each year. Action cards must be customer-oriented.

By “limited infrastructure capacity”, we mean that it is not possible to run the rail services intended for the line in question, e.g. because centralised traffic control on the line has failed, points cannot be used or just one track can be used on a double line.

6.3.3.3 Emergency response plan for accidents

Bane NOR has an emergency response portal (Emergency Response in Bane NOR).

Bane NOR has outlined its system for emergency preparedness related to unwanted incidents in the Emergency Response Portal. The descriptions in the portal convey Bane NOR’s principles for dimensioning and prioritisation.

Emergency response analyses for objects and sections provide central guidelines for the railway undertaking’s emergency response analyses/plans. These emergency response analyses are made available in the Emergency Response Portal.

A password is required to log in to the Emergency Response Portal. To obtain a password, send an email to beredskap@banenor.no.

6.3.3.4 Logging and storage of communications in the Bane NOR train radio network

In accordance with the Railway Infrastructure Regulations, Section 3-11, third paragraph, Bane NOR must store communications in connection with traffic management securely and for a sufficient time in relation to the need for any potential investigation of railway accidents, serious railway incidents and railway incidents.

Bane NOR logs and stores all such communications. This is applicable to all communication on the train radio network.

These communications will be played back in the following instances:

• in the event of railway accidents and serious railway incidents requiring  connection with railway accidents and serious railway incidents.
• in order to check communication discipline.

The purpose of storing these communications is linked to safety management in order to help clarify accidents and incidents.Everyone involved in playback must exercise caution in respect of confidentiality and maintaining privacy.

Separate administrative procedures have been prepared for use in connection with railway accidents and serious railway incidents.

6.4 Tools for Train Information and Monitoring

6.4.1 TIS

TIS is a network-based program that supports international administration of railway traffic by supplying real-time data relating to international trains. Relevant data is obtained directly from Bane NOR systems. Bane NOR sends data to TIS, where all the information from the various managers is collated and combined so that it is possible to track the running of a train from departure or the initial destination to the final destination. This permits transboundary monitoring of the train, from start to finish.

Railway undertakings and terminal operators are also able to access TIS. They are invited to participate in the RNE RNERailNetEurope is a joint European organization aimed at facilitating international traffic. TIS Advisory Board: all members of this board are given full access to TIS data if they are involved in the same train operations. If undertakings and the terminal operators are not members of the RNE TIS Advisory Board, mutual agreements may be signed between the individual undertaking and between the undertakings and terminal operators.

TIS may be accessed for free. If you would like a user account, please send your enquiry to RNE TIS Support. 

6.5 Customer and Traffic Information System

Bane NOR provides customer and traffic information through screens, speakers, apps, banenor.no and static signage. Facilities at each individual station are described in Annex 7.3.2 Stations.

The customer and traffic information standard has been designed by Bane NOR in consultation with railway undertakings, with Bane NOR playing a coordinating role to ensure operator neutrality. The design of informational elements and rules relating to how information is provided at stations are based on customer insights and requirements for universal design governed by TSI PRM. See the Customer and Traffic Information Manual for a detailed description of the service.

Customer and traffic information constitutes the sum of deliveries from core processes on the part of Bane NOR and railway undertakings. The data is created where decisions are made and supplied to those who require information in a machine-readable format. The “master data” owner is responsible for ensuring that the quality of the supplied data provides correct, consistent, fast and useful information for travellers.

Railway undertakings are obliged to provide data in accordance with the descriptions set down in ATS. Bane NOR has a duty to provide data in line with the ATS and applicable national and international standards. Bane NOR provides information that is relevant to travellers through open data provided to unertakings, Entur and other participants that require information. This is done using established standards via open APIs in line with ITS legislation.