Europe Backs Coordinated Rail Safety After Gotthard as JNS Updates Risk Controls

Europe’s rail safety system is facing a crucial test of consistency rather than regulation, as updated European risk control measures following the Gotthard Base Tunnel accident reaffirm that existing rules are fit for purpose but unevenly applied.

The conclusion comes with the publication of the final report by the Joint Network Secretariat (JNS) task force into the 2023 Gotthard Base Tunnel derailment, caused by broken freight wagon wheels. Rather than calling for new legislation, the report points to a familiar European challenge: ensuring that agreed safety measures are applied consistently across borders, operators, and national authorities.

The findings land at a sensitive moment for the European rail sector, following months of debate over unilateral national responses, most notably in Switzerland, and renewed scrutiny of how Europe manages rail safety risks on its most critical freight corridors.

From the Gotthard Accident to European Coordination

The derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel in August 2023 led to one of the most serious disruptions to north–south rail freight traffic through the Alps in decades. As investigations progressed, attention quickly shifted from the incident itself to the broader question of whether Europe’s safety framework was sufficient, or whether national authorities should act independently to tighten controls.

The JNS task force was convened under the framework of the European Union Agency for Railways to assess the accident and evaluate whether existing European risk control measures for freight wagons, particularly wheelsets, required revision. Its final report builds on earlier JNS work agreed in 2019 and 2024, updating and consolidating safety measures into a single, harmonised European reference.

Crucially, the task force found no regulatory vacuum. Europe already has a comprehensive rail safety rulebook. The weakness, the report concludes, lies in how unevenly those rules are implemented across the rail freight ecosystem.

Consistency at the Centre of Safety Response

According to the JNS, fragmented or unilateral measures risk undermining both safety outcomes and legal certainty for operators running across multiple national networks. The updated risk control measures are therefore designed to be applied uniformly, allowing national safety authorities, infrastructure managers, and freight operators to work from the same evidence-based framework.

This conclusion has particular significance following the decision of the Swiss Federal Administrative Court to provisionally suspend unilateral wagon safety measures imposed by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport. The court cited doubts over both the urgency and proportionality of the measures, a ruling that implicitly reinforced the value of coordinated European action.

By positioning the JNS conclusions as a common European reference, the report strengthens the argument that rail safety risks should be managed collectively, rather than through isolated national decrees that may distort cross-border operations.

UIP: Legal Certainty is as Important as Safety

The International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP) has welcomed the JNS conclusions, framing them as proof that Europe’s rail safety system works when used as intended.

UIP stressed that its members have already largely implemented the risk control measures agreed in earlier JNS processes and committed to swift and full compliance with the newly updated recommendations. The organisation argues that consistent application is essential not only for safety, but for maintaining predictable operating conditions for rail freight across Europe.

UIP Secretary General Gilles Peterhans said the outcome demonstrated the strength of Europe’s coordinated approach: "This outcome shows how Europe’s rail safety system works in practice. The rules are in place, and the priority now is to apply them fully and consistently." He added that the JNS provides the right European framework to manage risks in a proportionate, evidence-based way, while preserving the legal predictability rail freight operators need to function reliably across borders.

#Switzerland fine-tunes its new #rail #freight safety rules after the #Gotthard Tunnel incident, easing inspection requirements but maintaining its overall safety framework //t.co/s9RZVZgKUB

— Redazione TE (@TrasportoEuropa) October 29, 2025

Implications for Operators and Authorities

With the updated JNS recommendations now published, attention shifts to implementation. National safety authorities are expected to align their approaches with the harmonised measures, while freight operators face renewed pressure to demonstrate compliance across maintenance, inspection, and operational practices.

The broader message is clear: Europe’s rail safety debate is moving away from rule-making and towards enforcement discipline. In an increasingly interconnected rail market, and under heightened geopolitical and supply-chain pressure, fragmentation is seen as a risk in itself.