A Guide to ROGS

The Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (as amended) (ROGS)

Glossary of terms

Regulation 2

Regulation 2 of ROGS gives the full legal definitions of most of the terms used in the regulations. This guide gives a simple explanation of terms when they are first used. We have included some other important definitions that are not explained elsewhere in the guide in the following section. You should note that these explanations do not replace the full legal definitions in the regulations.

TermDefinition
Certification body'Certification body' means a body responsible for the certification of entities in charge of maintenance, on the basis of the criteria in Part 3 of Schedule 10.
Controller of safety critical work‘Controller of safety critical work’ means any person controlling the carrying out of safety critical work on a transport system or in relation to a vehicle used on a transport system.
Duty holder'Duty holder' means the person responsible for carrying out a particular duty under the regulations
Entity in charge of maintenance (ECM)'Entity in charge of maintenance' (ECM) means an entity in charge of maintenance of a vehicle, and includes a transport undertaking, an infrastructure manager or a keeper.
2011 EU ECM Regulation‘2011 EU ECM Regulation’ means Commission Regulation (EU) 445/2011 on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance for freight wagons.
2019 EU ECM Regulation‘2019 EU ECM Regulation’ means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/779 laying down detailed provisions on a system of certification for entities in charge of maintenance for vehicles pursuant to Directive (EU) 2016/798.
ECM Certificate‘ECM certificate’ means a certificate issued to an ECM in accordance with the applicable ECM Regulation as stated below: 
(i) An ECM certificate issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) 445/2011 that is valid on the terms of its original issue;
Freight wagon'Freight wagon' means a non-self-propelled vehicle designed for the purpose of transporting freight or other materials to be used for activities such as construction or infrastructure maintenance
Infrastructure

'Infrastructure' means fixed assets used for running a transport system, including:

  • the permanent way or any other method of guiding or supporting vehicles;
  • any station;
  • equipment used for signalling; and
  • equipment used only for supplying electricity to run the transport system
Keeper'Keeper' means the person who, being the owner of a vehicle or having the right to use it, exploits the vehicle as a means of transport and is registered as being the keeper in the National Vehicle Register
Railway

‘Railway’ does not include tramways. A railway is a ‘mainline railway’ unless we determine that it falls within one or more of these categories:

  • metros and other light rail systems;
  • networks that are functionally separate from the rest of the mainline railway system and intended only for the operation of local, urban or suburban passenger services, as well as transport undertakings operating solely on these networks;
  • heritage, museum or tourist railways that operate on their own networks; or
  • we determine that heritage vehicles that operate on the mainline railway and comply with national safety rules are deemed not to operate on the mainline railway; or
  • it is privately owned infrastructure that exists solely for use by the infrastructure owner for its own freight operations.

Railways that fall under (a) and (b) above are contained in an Approved list on our website. These railways are described as non-mainline railways.

Transport system'Transport system' mainly means a railway (mainline or non-mainline), a tramway, or any other guided transport system used wholly or mainly to carry passengers. The exceptions to this are listed chapter 1.
Tramway

'Tramway' means a system of transport: 

  • which is used completely or mainly to carry passengers;
  • where the maximum speed allows the driver to stop a vehicle in the distance he can see to be clear ahead; and
  • which uses parallel rails which:
  • support and guide vehicles carried on flanged wheels; and
  • are laid completely or partly along a road or in any other place to which the public has access (including a place where the public has access only after making a payment).

Under regulation 2A of ROGS certain systems can be excluded from the scope of mainline railway, the Approved List shows the tramways that are excluded to avoid doubt of their status. While some sections of the mainline railway that are street running, and operate by line of sight, may appear fit the definition of 'tramway' they are not considered to fall within the definition of ‘tramway’ for the purposes of ROGS and are not in the scope of the Approved list exclusions. 
The definition deliberately uses the term ‘partly’ to ensure that systems that are majority street running do not become railways by default due to the opening of a substantial off-street segregated section, as long as the method of operation on the system as a whole remains on the ‘line of sight’ principle.

Vehicle'Vehicle' includes a mobile traction unit. In this guidance it is also used to include 'rolling stock', which means any carriage, wagon or other vehicle used on tracks and including locomotives. 'Vehicle' also refers to anything which, whether or not it is built or adapted to carry any person or load, is built or adapted to run on flanged wheels over or along track.