PROSPER II - "Procedures for Rolling Stock Procurement with Environmental Requirements Phase II"

The project aimed to improve the environmental performance of European railways by taking greater account of environmental requirements when procuring new trains and locomotives. To this end, a set of environmental performance indicators was to be quantified and agreed with railway operators and manufacturers. While the guidelines with ecological indicators were developed in the first phase of the project, the coordination processes with expert groups, manufacturers and operators took place in the second phase of the project.

In this project:

• an overview of the status of the relevant environmental legislation for the procurement of new railway vehicles in Europe
• develop a common understanding between railway operators and vehicle manufacturers of how ecological criteria should be integrated into the procurement process. In addition, both classifications and values of such ecological indicators should be jointly developed
• developed a UIC leaflet: "UIC environmental guideline for the procurement of new rolling stock", which incorporates the results of PROSPER 1, REPID, the UIC feasibility study on standardised test cycles for measuring energy consumption and the EVENT project

In the first phase of PROSPER, a guideline was developed to support railway operators in the procurement of new vehicles. A list of 39 environmental indicators was drawn up that can be used in tendering procedures.
These indicators originate from the areas:

• Noise
• Energy efficiency
• Exhaust gases
• Materials, waste, recycling and
• other emissions with a focus on electromagnetic radiation

In the second phase of the Prosper project, indicators were agreed with railway operators, manufacturers and, in particular, the various expert working groups that were already working on the individual topics at European level. The result was published as a UIC leaflet.