EN 15624:2021/FprA1

Railway applications - Braking - Empty-loaded changeover devices

This document is applicable to empty-loaded changeover devices. The purpose of such devices is the generation of a load-related signal which causes the brake performance to be adjusted to the current vehicle mass.
The manually operated empty-loaded changeover devices change their output signal according to the position of the handles which together with the associated changeover plates serve as interfaces. The changeover plates read the required information for the operation of the empty-loaded changeover devices, i.e. brake weights for each position and the relevant changeover mass of the vehicle.
Automatic empty-loaded changeover devices sense a certain load threshold of the vehicle to automatically adjust the output signal when the mass of a vehicle reaches a defined value. This threshold is the changeover mass. Below this mass the vehicle’s brake system provides a reduced brake force. For the changeover mass or more the high brake force applies.
This document specifies the requirements for the design, testing and quality assurance of empty-loaded changeover devices.

Bahnanwendungen - Bremse - Leer-Beladen-Umstellvorrichtungen

Applications ferroviaires - Freinage - Dispositifs de changement de régime vide-chargé

Železniške naprave - Zavore - Avtomatsko menjalo "naloženo-prazno" - Dopolnilo A1

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• Publication Date: 21-Aug-2024
• ICS: 45.040 - Materials and components for railway engineering
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 256 - Railway applications
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 256/SC 3/WG 47 - Braking
• Current Stage: 5060 - Closure of Vote - Formal Approval
• Start Date: 27-Jun-2024
• Due Date: 17-Jul-2024
• Completion Date: 27-Jun-2024
• Directive: 2016/797/EU - Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union (Text with EEA relevance)
• Mandate: M/483 - Mandate for programming and standardisation addressed to the European standardisation bodies under directive 2008/57/EC in the field of the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union
• Mandate: M/591 - Standardisation request to the European Committee for Standardisation and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation as regards railway products in support of Directive (EU) 2016/797
• Ref Project: SIST EN 15624:2021/kFprA1:2024 - Railway applications - Braking - Empty-loaded changeover devices

Relations

• Merged Into: EN 15624:2021+A1:2024 - Railway applications - Braking - Empty-loaded changeover devices
• Effective Date: 09-Jul-2024
• Amends: EN 15624:2021 - Railway applications - Braking - Empty-loaded changeover devices
• Effective Date: 01-Dec-2021

Overview

EN 15624:2021/FprA1 (CEN) covers empty-loaded changeover devices used on railway vehicles to generate a load-related signal that causes brake performance to be adjusted to the current vehicle mass. The standard addresses both manually operated and automatic changeover devices and specifies requirements for design, testing and quality assurance. Recent amendments add colour guidance, include G/P changeover devices and revise normative annexes for hands-on implementation.

Key Topics

• Purpose and function
  • Empty-loaded changeover devices produce a signal that switches braking behaviour at a defined changeover mass. Below the changeover mass, reduced brake force applies; at or above it, full brake force applies.
• Manual devices
  • Operated by handles together with changeover plates that serve as the user interface. Plates contain braked weight markings and the relevant changeover mass (typically indicated near the lever pivot).
  • Annex B (normative) defines principle shapes, symbols and handle designs. Typical details include braked weight markings (t), solid handles or handles with an oblong hole when multiple devices are present, and operation angles of about 90°.
  • Representative handle measures and tolerances are provided in the normative figures (e.g., handle dimensions such as A = (175 ± 10) mm where shown in the annex figures).
• Automatic devices
  • Sense a load threshold and switch output automatically when vehicle mass reaches the defined value (the changeover mass).
• Colours and marking
  • New subclause 4.11 requires: white background of the changeover plate, a red frame around plate edges, and red for braked weights, changeover mass, symbols/text, limit stops and handles. No exact RAL reference is mandated; contrasting appearance is required.
• Design, testing & QA
  • The document specifies design and manufacturing requirements, testing provisions and quality assurance measures. In-service assessment requirements are referenced (Annex E for in-service trial provisions).

Applications

• Ensures reliable brake adjustment for freight wagons and other rolling stock where load-dependent braking is required.
• Supports interoperability and conformity assessment with the TSI/Directive framework (see Annex ZA) by providing standardized dimensions, markings and functional requirements for on-board changeover devices.
• Useful for vehicle designers, brake-system manufacturers, maintenance teams and conformity assessors implementing or verifying load-dependent braking interfaces.

Related Standards

• EN 15877-1:2012+A1:2018 - referenced for changeover plate inscriptions and alternative marking on solebars.
• Relevant TSIs and Directive (EU) 2016/797 - Annex ZA explains the relationship to essential requirements and TSI provisions.

Practical value: EN 15624:2021/FprA1 provides prescriptive, normative guidance (including plate/handle shapes and colour conventions) to help manufacturers and operators implement robust, interoperable empty-loaded changeover devices that deliver predictable, load-related brake performance.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
01-marec-2023
Železniške naprave - Zavore - Avtomatsko menjalo "naloženo-prazno" - Dopolnilo
A1
Railway applications - Braking - Empty-loaded changeover devices
Bahnanwendungen - Bremse - Leer-Beladen-Umstellvorrichtungen
Applications ferroviaires - Freinage - Dispositifs de changement de régime vide-chargé
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 15624:2021/prA1
ICS:
45.040 Materiali in deli za železniško Materials and components
tehniko for railway engineering
SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
EN 15624:2021
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
prA1
January 2023
ICS
English Version
Railway applications - Braking - Empty-loaded changeover
devices
Applications ferroviaires - Freinage - Dispositifs de Bahnanwendungen - Bremse - Leer-Beladen-
changement de régime vide-chargé Umstellvorrichtungen
This draft amendment is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 256.

This draft amendment A1, if approved, will modify the European Standard EN 15624:2021. If this draft becomes an amendment,
CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for inclusion of
this amendment into the relevant national standard without any alteration.

This draft amendment 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
© 2023 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 15624:2021/prA1:2023 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
EN 15624:2021/prA1:2023 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Creation of an Introduction . 4
2 Modification to the Scope . 4
3 Modification to order of subclauses in Clause 4, “Design and manufacture” . 4
4 Creation of a new subclause 4.11, “Colours” . 5
5 Modification to Clause 6, “In-service assessment” . 5
6 Modifications to 8.2, “Changeover plate for the manual empty-loaded changeover
device” . 6
7 Modifications to Annex B . 6
8 Creation of new Annex C, “G/P changeover device” . 13
9 Modification to Annex ZA . 14
Annex ZA (informative) Relationship between this European Standard and the Essential
Requirements of EU Directive (EU) 2016/797 aimed to be covered . 15

SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
EN 15624:2021/prA1:2023 (E)
European foreword
This document (EN 15624:2021/prA1:2023) 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.
The main changes compared to EN 15624:2021 are:
a) Scope has been modified: G/P changeover device has been included and other informative content
has been moved to new Introduction;
b) new 4.11 “Colours” has been added;
b) the content of Annex B has been modified and changed to normative;
c) new normative Annex C “G/P changeover device” has been added;
d) Annex ZA has been updated.
SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
EN 15624:2021/prA1:2022 (E)
1 Creation of an Introduction
Add an introduction as follows:
“The purpose of empty-loaded changeover devices is the generation of a load-related signal which
causes the brake performance to be adjusted to the current vehicle mass.
The manually operated empty-loaded changeover devices change their output signal according to the
position of the handles which together with the associated changeover plates serve as interfaces. The
changeover plates read the required information for the operation of the empty-loaded changeover
devices, i.e. brake weights for each position and the relevant changeover mass of the vehicle.
Automatic empty-loaded changeover devices sense a certain load threshold of the vehicle to
automatically adjust the output signal when the mass of a vehicle reaches a defined value. This
threshold is the changeover mass. Below this mass the vehicle’s brake system provides a reduced brake
force. For the changeover mass or more the high brake force applies.
In addition, Annex C of this document contains information on the G/P changeover device, which was
originally covered by EN 15877-1 but is about to be removed from that document. It is intended to
develop a new standard for brake position change over devices, which will adopt these requirements.”
2 Modification to the Scope
Change the scope from
“This document is applicable to empty-loaded changeover devices. The purpose of such devices is the
generation of a load-related signal which causes the brake performance to be adjusted to the current
vehicle mass.
The manually operated empty-loaded changeover devices change their output signal according to the
position of the handles which together with the associated changeover plates serve as interfaces. The
changeover plates read the required information for the operation of the empty-loaded changeover
devices, i.e. brake weights for each position and the relevant changeover mass of the vehicle.
Automatic empty-loaded changeover devices sense a certain load threshold of the vehicle to
automatically adjust the output signal when the mass of a vehicle reaches a defined value. This
threshold is the changeover mass. Below this mass the vehicle’s brake system provides a reduced brake
force. For the changeover mass or more the high brake force applies.
This document specifies the requirements for the design, testing and quality assurance of empty-loaded
changeover devices.”
to
“This document specifies the requirements for the design, testing and quality assurance of empty-
loaded changeover devices.
This document is applicable to empty-loaded changeover devices.
This document specifies the shape and measures of the G/P changeover device’s plate and handle.”
3 Modification to order of subclauses in Clause 4, “Design and manufacture”
Move the subclause
“4.8. Compressed air quality”
below Table 1, becoming
“4.5 Compressed air quality”.
SIST EN 15624:2021/oprA1:2023
EN 15624:2021/prA1:2023 (E)
4 Creation of a new subclause 4.11, “Colours”
Add a new subclause 4.11, “Colours” with the following content.
“The empty-loaded changeover devices of new vehicles shall have the following colours:
— white background of the changeover plate;
— red frame covering the edges of the changeover plate;
— braked weights, the changeover mass and their symbols or describing texts, limit stops and handle
in red.
Deliberately there is no reference to the RAL colour chart to define the colour exactly. Any white or red
may be used.
The empty-loaded changeover plate should contrast from its background and surroundings. This is best
with direct surroundin
...