EN 16186-9:2026

• Abstract:

  This document defines front visibility conditions including positions of drivers and its assessment.; This document applies to metro vehicles with or without permanent driver, excluding shuttles used for short distance transportation.; Metro vehicle definition is according to EN 17343.; Note For special vehicles, see EN 14033-4 and EN 15746-4.

• Status: Not Published
• Publication Date: 13-Oct-2026
• ICS: 45.060.10 - Tractive stock
• ICS: 45.140 - Metro, tram and light rail equipment
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 256 - Railway applications
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 256/WG 37 - Driver's cabs and windscreens
• Current Stage: 6055 - CEN Ratification completed (DOR) - Publishing
• Start Date: 14-Sep-2026
• Due Date: 24-Nov-2026
• Completion Date: 14-Sep-2026
• Mandate: M/486 - Mandate for programming and standardisation addressed to the European standardisation bodies in the field of urban rail
• Ref Project: kSIST FprEN 16186-9:2026 - Railway applications - Driver's cabs - Part 9 : External visibility for metro vehicles

Overview

EN 16186-9:2026 is a European standard developed by CEN under the technical committee CEN/TC 256, focusing on railway applications, particularly on requirements for external visibility from driver’s cabs in metro vehicles. The document establishes standardized conditions for front, rear, and lateral visibility, addressing the positions of drivers (seated or standing) and detailing the necessary assessments. It applies to all metro vehicles as defined in EN 17343, whether operated with or without a permanent driver, but specifically excludes short-distance shuttle vehicles.

This standard is crucial for ensuring the safety and operational efficiency of metro systems by supporting driver awareness and response to trackside signals, obstacles, and platform activities.

Key Topics

• Front Visibility Requirements
  Defines the necessary field of vision for drivers or operators, including standard eye points and anthropometric data for assessment.
• Driver Positions
  Covers requirements for both seated and standing driving positions, applicable for conventional and driverless metro vehicles.
• Windscreen & Side Window Specifications
  Includes requirements related to windscreen design, cleaning devices, glare protection, de-icing, de-misting, and reflection mitigation.
• External Signal and Coupler Visibility
  Specifies how drivers must be able to see and recognize trackside signals and view coupling equipment during operations.
• Rear and Lateral Visibility
  Addresses how drivers can observe rear and side areas, essential for monitoring passenger exchange and communicating with staff.
• Anthropometric Data
  Utilizes defined body size and ergonomic measures for driver dummies to ensure accessibility and sightline consistency.

Applications

Implementation of EN 16186-9:2026 provides several practical benefits for metro vehicle manufacturers, railway operators, and safety regulators:

• Metro Vehicle Design and Procurement
  Manufacturers use these guidelines to design cabs that optimize the driver's external visibility, improving operational safety and meeting procurement requirements for new or refurbished fleet.
• Safety Assurance for Operators and Passengers
  Ensures that drivers have clear, unobstructed views of signals and track conditions, directly contributing to reduced risk of accidents and better response times to hazards.
• Driverless and Semi-Automated Metro Systems
  The standard addresses visibility requirements not only for traditional cabs but also for metros that may operate in driverless mode under normal conditions, ensuring provision for simplified auxiliary control when required.
• Compliance and Certification
  Operators and regulators can reference this standard during acceptance and certification processes to verify that vehicles meet essential external visibility criteria.
• Infrastructure Compatibility
  By standardizing window and viewing area characteristics, the document supports compatibility among different metro networks and infrastructure interfaces.

Related Standards

EN 16186-9:2026 aligns with and builds upon several other railway application standards, including:

• EN 17343: Railway applications – General terms and definitions (metro vehicle definition)
• EN 15152:2019+A1:2023: Railway applications – Windscreens for trains (material properties and additional requirements)
• EN 15663: Railway applications – Vehicle reference masses
• EN 16186 Series: Parts 1-8 cover complementary aspects of driver’s cab design in heavy rail and tram vehicles (anthropometric data, integration of controls, external visibility for trams, etc.)
• EN 14033-4 & EN 15746-4: Standards for special vehicles

By adhering to EN 16186-9:2026, stakeholders ensure metro vehicles meet consistent, harmonized visibility and ergonomic requirements, supporting both safety and interoperability in modern urban railway systems.

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
01-junij-2025
Železniške naprave - Voznikova kabina - 9. del: Zunanja vidljivost vozil podzemne
železnice
Railway applications - Driver's cabs - Part 9 : External visibility for metro vehicles
Bahnanwendungen - Führerraum - Teil 9: Sichtbedingungen nach außen bei U-
Bahnfahrzeugen
Applications ferroviaires - Cabines de conduite - Partie 9: Visibilité extérieure depuis la
cabine de métro
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 16186-9
ICS:
45.060.10 Vlečna vozila Tractive stock
45.140 Oprema za podzemne vlake, Metro, tram and light rail
tramvaje in lahka tirna vozila equipment
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
prEN 16186-9
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
April 2025
ICS 45.060.10; 45.140
English Version
Railway applications - Driver's cabs - Part 9 : External
visibility for metro vehicles
EN 16186-9, Applications ferroviaires - Cabines de EN 16186-9, Bahnanwendungen - Führerraum - Teil 9 :
conduite - Partie 9 : Visibilité extérieure depuis la Sichtbedingungen nach außen bei U-Bahnfahrzeugen
cabine de métro
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 256.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 16186-9:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
prEN 16186-9:2025 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Scope . 4
2 Normative references . 4
3 Terms and definitions . 4
4 Driver's anthropometric data . 5
4.1 General. 5
4.2 Data . 5
5 Forward visibility . 7
5.1 General. 7
5.2 Forward visibility requirements . 8
5.2.1 Objectives . 8
5.2.2 General. 8
5.2.3 Visibility of external signals . 8
5.2.4 Visibility of couplers . 9
5.3 Windscreen and side windscreen related requirements . 9
5.3.1 General. 9
5.3.2 Front windscreen cleaning device . 9
5.3.3 Windscreen glare protection . 10
5.3.4 Front Windscreen de-icing and de-misting . 10
5.3.5 Side Windscreen de-icing and de-misting . 10
5.3.6 Reflection protection . 10
6 External rear visibility . 11
7 Lateral visibility . 11
Annex A (informative) Forward visibility reference surfaces . 12
Annex B (informative) Forward visibility reference eye points — Adjustable foot rest and
adjustable seat . 14
Bibliography . 15

oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
prEN 16186-9:2025 (E)
European foreword
This document (prEN 16186-9:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 256 “Railway
applications”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document has been prepared under a standardization request addressed to CEN by the European
Commission. The Standing Committee of the EFTA States subsequently approves these requests for its
Member States.
EN 16186 Railway applications — Driver’s cab consists of the following parts:
— Part 1: Anthropometric data and visibility;
— Part 2: Integration of displays, controls and indicators;
— Part 3: Design of displays;
— Part 4: Layout and access;
— Part 5: External visibility for tram vehicles;
— Part 6: Integration of displays, controls and indicators for tram vehicles;
— Part 7: Design of displays for tram vehicles;
— Part 8: Tram vehicle layout and access;
— Part 9: External visibility for metro vehicles.
NOTE Part 1 to 4 above-mentioned standard are only applicable for heavy rail vehicles and part 5 to 8 are
only applicable to tram vehicles.

Under preparation, currently prEN 16186-7.
Under preparation, currently prEN 16186-9.
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
prEN 16186-9:2025 (E)
1 Scope
This document defines:
— General design rules for access to the metro cab,
— Front visibility conditions including positions of people,
— Assessment.
This document applies to metro vehicles with or without driver, excluding shuttles used for short
distance transportation.
Metro vehicle definition is according to EN 17343.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 17343, Railway applications - General terms and definitions
EN 15152:2019+A1:2023, Railway applications — Windscreens for trains
EN 15663, Railway applications — Vehicle reference masses
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 17343 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
primary vision area
area of the windscreen through which track and signals are visible from the driving position text of the
definition
[SOURCE: EN 15152:2019+A1:2023, definition 3.3]
3.2
secondary vision area term
area of the windscreen outside the primary vision area, through which the driver can also look from the
driving position text of the definition
[SOURCE: EN 15152:2019+A1:2023, definition 3.4]
3.3
windscreen
glazing in front of a driver through which the track ahead can be observed
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
prEN 16186-9:2025 (E)
[SOURCE: EN 15152:2019+A1:2023, 3.2, modified — “or passengers” is removed.]
3.4
side windscreen
additional glazing positioned at the side of a windscreen that is predominately positioned transversely
to the running direction
[SOURCE: EN 15152:2019+A1:2023, 3.2.2]
3.5
driver dummies
models referring to the min and max anthropometric data
Note 1 to entry: The anthropometric data are provided in Clause 4.
3.6
driverless metro
metro that, in normal operation, is operated without a driver on board
Note 1 to entry: A driverless metro can be operated by a driver with a simplified desk in degraded conditions.
3.7
shuttle
rail system that runs back and forth between two points
4 Driver's anthropometric data
4.1 General
This Clause defines the anthropometric data on which the requirements in this document are based.
The background on these anthropometric data are provided in CEN/TR 16823.
4.2 Data
Figure 1 and Figure 2 give the body size measures.
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
prEN 16186-9:2025 (E)
Dimensions in millimetres
Measure Min. Max.
a
a 1 580 1 940
a
b 1 480 1 815
d 710 860
e 545 665
a
g 405 510
h 120 180
i 440 525
a
j 107 126
k 353 457
l 377 473
m 403 498
n 257 312
o 223 266
p 170 221
t 104 131
x 232 261
a
Includes 30 mm allowance for
shoes.
Figure 1 — Principal body size measures
oSIST prEN 16186-9:2025
prEN 16186-9:2025 (E)
Dimensions in millimetres
Min. Max.
d see Figure 1
a
f 510 635
l see Figure 1
q 78 90
r 75 101
s 105 121
t see Figure 1
u 295 387
v 450 to 600 to
550 700
w 390 to 470 to
405 510
x see Figure 1
z 220 290
a
Includes 30 mm
allowance for shoes.
Key
a) sitting upright
b) sitting inclined
1 hip point
2 seat reference point
3 heel point (lowest rear point of the heel)
z/4 non-flexible part of the shoe pad
Figure 2 — Additional body size measures
The minimum distance between the eyes is 53 mm and the maximum distance between the eyes is
70 mm.
The minimum dimensions shall be used together with the minimum requirements listed in Figure 2.
The maximum dimensions shall be used together with the maximum requirements listed in Figure 2.
5 Forward visibility
5.1 General
For the seated driving position, the forward visibility requirements of 5.2.1 shall be ensured (see also
A.1 and Annex
...