Safety critical components (SCC) in the maintenance management system for railway vehicle

Maintenance management systems have been operating in the European railway market for many years. However, implementation of the new legal regulations means that the impact of the structured system approach is constantly developing. This new approach focuses on management of the safety critical components (SCC), where the main involved parties are rolling stock manufacturers and the certified entities in charge of maintenance (ECM). The aim of this article is to present how changes to legislation affect development of the maintenance systems, both in the context of their requirements and criteria used, as well as in relation to a requirement of rolling the certification process out to all ECMs, irrespectively of the types of vehicles are used by them. Furthermore, the article focuses on critical safety components and respectively challenges faced by entities on the railway market. Therefore, the process of identifying SCC is described and analysed by providing examples of components that most frequently appear on the list of safety critical components which were developed in the Polish railway market.