This European Standard applies to new designs of locomotives and passenger carrying rolling stock as
defined in categories C-I to C-IV of Clause 4 taking into consideration the recommendations given in
Annex E on the application of the standard (migration rule). It is intended to protect vehicle occupants,
through the preservation of structural integrity, and does not extend to other railway employees and
customers who are not in vehicles, or to third parties. The specified requirements relate to the technical and
operational conditions of use that prevail in the CEN member countries. The design of new vehicles for use
in passenger trains is based on operations with compatible rolling stock that also meet this standard. It is
recognised that operational requirements will require new crashworthy and existing non-crashworthy vehicles
to exist in the same train unit but such combinations of vehicles are not required to comply with this
European Standard.
The requirements apply to the vehicle body, and to those mechanical elements directly associated with it that
may be used to absorb energy in a collision, such as couplers, buffing systems etc. They do not cover the
safety features of doors, windows, system components or interior features except for specific issues relating
to the preservation of survival space.
The requirements do not cover all possible accident scenarios but provide a level of crashworthiness that will
reduce the consequences of an accident, when the active safety measures have been inadequate. The
requirement is to provide a level of protection by addressing the most common types of collision that cause
injuries and fatalities.
The applicable design collision scenarios, and suitable parameters for normal European operations, are
given in Clause 5. Annex A gives additional information regarding the derivation of the scenarios and
describes situations when they may need to be modified and the processes that should then be followed.
This European Standard identifies common methods of providing passive safety that may be adopted to suit
individual vehicle requirements. This European Standard also specifies the characteristics of reference
obstacle models for use in the design collision scenarios. Not all vehicles in a train unit have to incorporate
energy absorption provided that passenger train configurations formed entirely of new vehicle designs
comply as a whole with this European Standard.
This European Standard also specifies the requirements for demonstrating that the passive safety objectives
have been achieved by comparison with existing proven designs, numerical simulation, component or
full-size tests, or a combination of all these methods.
DIN EN 15227:2008 Referenced Document
EN 12663 Railway Applications - Structural Requirements of Railway Vehicle Bodies
DIN EN 15227:2008 history
2022DIN EN 15227/A1:2022-08 Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for rail vehicles; German and English version EN 15227:2020/prA1:2022 / Note: Date of issue 2022-07-01*Intended as an amendment to DIN EN 15227 (2020-06).
2020DIN EN 15227:2020-06 Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for rail vehicles; German version EN 15227:2020 / Note: To be amended by DIN EN 15227/A1 (2022-08).
2020DIN EN 15227:2020 Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for rail vehicles
1970DIN EN 15227 E:2016-12 Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for railway vehicle bodies
2016DIN EN 15227 E:2016 Draft Document - Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for railway vehicle bodies; German and English version prEN 15227:2016
2011DIN EN 15227:2011 Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for railway vehicle bodies; German version EN 15227:2008+A1:2010
2008DIN EN 15227:2008 Railway applications - Crashworthiness requirements for railway vehicle bodies; German version EN 15227:2008