What is the EN 45545-2 Fire Test Methods and Classification for European Railway


What is the EN 45545?

EN 45545 is the mandatory European standard for materials used in the manufacture of rail vehicles. It aims to protect passengers and staff from fire on board railway vehicles.

EN 45545 was published in 2013, and became a mandatory requirement throughout Europe in 2016. All materials used in the manufacture of railway vehicles must follow the EN45545 standard to achieve the highest possible level of safety in case of fire. It applies to rail vehicles, including high-speed trains, regional trains, streetcars, subways and double-decker trains.

The standard series EN 45545 contains the following parts:

Part 1:  General

Part 2:  Requirements for fire behaviour of materials and components

Part 3:  Fire resistance requirements for fire barriers

Part 4:  Fire safety requirements for rolling stock design

Part 5:  Fire safety requirements for electrical equipment

Part 6:  Fire control and management systems

Part 7:  Fire safety requirements for flammable liquid and flammable gas installations



How EN 45545 Created?

With the creation of the European Union, the process of economic integration is increasing, and the European railway network is integrated. However, each EU country and region has its own railway fire safety standards, adopting test methods, and technical requirements that are not analogous to each other, each country is interested in protecting its domestic standards system and industrial system, and national railway companies are responsible for their own operational and technical requirements development and certification; then there is a strong demand for integration from operators and suppliers.

The European Commission issued Directive 2008/57/EC in 2018 on the interoperability of railway systems within the European Community. The new Directive replaces 96/48/EC, and 2001/16/EC.

It requires the integration of railway systems within the EU. EN 45545 takes benefits including, replaced different national fire protection standards, enhanced European railway fire safety, increased European network interconnection, and reduced duplication of development and testing costs.

EN 45545 became the unique rail fire protection standard in March 2016, and replaced the following national standards:

England BS 6853 Code of practice for fire precautions in the design and construction of passenger carrying trains

France NF F 16-101 Railway Rolling Stock Fire Behavior Choice of Material

Germany DIN 5510-2 Preventive Fire Protection In Railway Vehicles - Part 2: Fire Behaviour And Fire Side Effects Of Materials And Parts - Classification, Requirements And Test Methods

Itlay UNI CEI 11170-1/2/3 Railway and Tramway Vehicles - Guidelines for Fire Protection of Railway, Tramway and Guided Path Vehicles

Poland PN K-02511 Rolling Stock -  Fire Safety of Materials - Requirements



EN 45545 Purpose

The purpose of the EN 45545 series of standards is to protect passengers and staff by minimizing the possibility of fire and controlling the speed and extent of its development once it has occurred.

The protection of passengers and staff is essentially based on the following measures.





EN 45545 Categories

EN 45545 classifies railway vehicles according to the range of railway vehicle types, operation, and infrastructure characteristics.

Operation Category depends on the type of service operated and the infrastructure characteristics.






Design Category depends on characteristics of the vehicle design and layout.
Operation Category

A: Vehicles forming part of an automatic train having no emergency trained staff on board;

D: Double decked vehicles;

S: Sleeping and couchette vehicles;

N: All other vehicles (standard vehicles)

The Operation Category combined with the Design Category gives the hazard level (HL1, HL2, HL3) which determines which of the material testing requirements set out in EN 45545-2 are applicable.




EN 45545-2 Test Methods

EN 45545-2 specifies the reaction to fire performance requirements for materials and products used on railway vehicles as defined in EN 45545-1.

The operation and design categories defined in EN 45545-1 are used to establish hazard levels that are used as the basis of a classification system. For each hazard level, this part specifies the test methods, test conditions and reaction to fire performance requirements.

Material Groups

Depending on the usages & characteristics of the materials and components, EN 45545-2 specifies materials into interiors products (IN), exteriors products (EX),  Furniture (F), electro technical equipment (E), mechanical equipment(M), and non-listed products.

Test Requirements

Each of these product groups are required to meet a specific set of performance requirement levels ( R1 to R28).

Test Methods

EN 45545-2 specifies 27 test methods (T01 to T17).

The performance of all the products is determined with respect to ignitability, flame spread, heat release, smoke release, and toxic gases produced. Each requirement has a corresponding series of test performance criteria imposed for each fire risk level (HL 1 to HL 3).

Lastly, the material will be ranked as RxHLy based on the test requirements, test methods.





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