Federal Railway Office
Encyclopedia
Responsibilities
The EBA is the inspectorate and authorising body for the majority of German domestic, railway infrastructure companies that are owned by the government, referred to as federal railways (Eisenbahnen des Bundes or EdB), and for German and foreign railway transport operators in Germany.Non federally-owned public railways and privately-operated railways are under the supervision of the German states (Bundesländer
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
), who can choose to transfer this responsibility to the EBA (§ 5 Abs. 2 AEG). To date 13 states, with the exception of Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
have chosen to do so. In such cases the EBA works under the direction of the states.
Since 1 January 2007 the EBA has run the railway vehicle register for Germany in accordance with § 5 Abs. 1e of the General Railway Law (Allgemeines Eisenbahngesetz or AEG) and the EU guidelines in §25a of the AEG and is therefore responsible for the issue of vehicle index and classification numbers.
The EBA has a flat organisational structure. Over 300 employees work at its headquarters in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
on the core issues, and another 1,000 people carry out the operational work of inspections and authorisations, occasionally on the spot, in twelve branches at 15 locations. Also within the purview of the Federal Railway Office is the responsibility for investigating railway accidents.
In addition, the EBA has also taken on the responsibility for the approval and oversight of maglev railways under the General Maglev Law (Allgemeines Magnetschwebebahngesetz or AMbG').
Since 1 January 2006 the Federal Network Agency
Federal Network Agency
The Federal Network Agency is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is a federal government agency of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and headquartered in Bonn....
(Bundesnetzagentur) has been responsible for overseeing access to the railway infrastructure. Detailed regulations contain rules about the non-discriminatory access to railway infrastructure and the principles for granting rewards for the use of railway infrastructure under the Railway Infrastructure User Regulation (Eisenbahninfrastruktur-Benutzungsverordnung or EIBV).
History
With effect from 1 January 1994, as part of the structural reformation of the German railways, the former so-called "special assets" of the Federal Republic of Germany - the Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
and the Deutsche Reichsbahn - were reorganised into an operational division, the Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG), and two national authorities, the Federal Railway Office (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt) and Federal Railway Assets (Bundeseisenbahnvermögen
Bundeseisenbahnvermögen
The Bundeseisenbahnvermögen is a special authority of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was called into existence by the Eisenbahnneuordnungsgesetz dated December 27, 1993....
or BEV), both subordinated to the Federal Ministry for Transport, Construction and Housing. A merger of these two authorities, originally planned for 2009, has currently foundered.
The first president of the EBA was Horst Stuchly. His successor, Armin Keppel, retired in 2008. Keppel also led the Bundeseisenbahnvermögen in 2007.
In 2009, a new president, Gerald Hörster, took up office.
Approval guidelines
Approvals for old technology:- Munich Bundesbahn Headquarters (Bundesbahnzentralamt München): Mü8004, Munich 1980 (on April 4)
New technology:
- DIN/ISO=EN 50126, 50128, 50129