LOCOMOTIVE MECHANICS CERTIFICATION

Locomotive mechanics must have the physical capacity and qualifications necessary to drive trains and must possess the following documents:

• a permit that proves that the mechanic meets the minimum conditions regarding medical requirements, has basic education and general professional skills. The permit identifies the mechanic and the issuing authority and mentions the period of validity;

• one or more certificates indicating the infrastructure that the certificate holder is authorized to drive and the rolling stock that the certificate holder is authorized to drive.

The certificate authorizes locomotive mechanics to drive within one or more of the following categories:

• category A: shunting locomotives, trains for infrastructure works, line maintenance vehicles and any other locomotives when they are used for shunting;

• category B: the transport of passengers and/or goods. A certificate can contain an authorization for all categories, covering all codes.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority is the competent authority in Romania, provided for in art. 16 para. (1) from Law no. 55/2006 regarding railway safety, which elaborates the procedure to be followed to obtain a driver's license for a locomotive engineer, the procedure approved by order of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.

The railway transport operators, respectively the administrator or managers of the railway infrastructure, as the case may be, are responsible for granting the certificate indicating the infrastructure that the certificate holder is authorized to drive and the rolling stock that the certificate holder is authorized to drive.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority performs the following tasks in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner:

• issues and updates permits and issues duplicates;

• ensure periodic examinations and/or tests;

• suspend and withdraw the permits and notify the issuing body regarding the receipt of justified requests for the suspension of the certificates;

• ensure the recognition of the persons or bodies for which it was designated;

• publishes and updates a register of accredited or recognized persons and bodies;

• keep and update a register of permits;

• monitors the certification process of locomotive mechanics;

• carry out inspections;

• establishes the national examination criteria for examiners.

The models of permit, certificate and certified copy of the certificate and also their physical characteristics, taking into account the measures to combat forgeries, will respect the requirements and characteristics of the community model provided by Regulation (EU) 36 .

The permit issued under the conditions of this decision is valid throughout the territory of the European Union.

The certification documents of locomotive drivers from third countries who drive exclusively on border sections of the railway system in Romania can be recognized in accordance with the bilateral agreements with the respective third country.

On the territory of Romania, permits issued in other member states of the European Union will be recognized according to art. 7 of Directive 2007/59/EC.

To obtain a permit, applicants must meet the following minimum requirements:

• the minimum age of permit applicants cannot be less than 20 years. However, permits can be issued to applicants from the age of 18, but the validity of such a permit will be limited to railways in Romania;

• applicants must have completed at least nine years of education (primary, secondary and high school) and have completed a basic training equivalent to level 3 referred to in the Recommendation of the European Parliament and the Council of April 23, 2008 no. 2008/C111/01, published in the Official Journal of the European Union no. C111 of May 6, 2009 regarding the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning;

• applicants must present a confirmation of the fact that they have a suitable physical condition, submitting to a medical examination performed by an accredited or recognized doctor in accordance with the legal provisions in force and under the supervision of the respective doctor;

• applicants must prove that they have a suitable psychological state from a professional point of view, submitting to a medical examination performed by a psychologist or doctor accredited or recognized in accordance with the legal provisions in force or under the supervision of the respective doctor;

• applicants must prove general professional competence, passing an exam that covers at least the general subjects listed in annex no. 4 to HG no. 1611/2009.

All permit requests are addressed to the Romanian Railway Safety Authority by the candidate mechanic or by any entity acting on his behalf. The requests may concern the granting of a new permit, the updating of some details of the permit, a renewal or the issuance of a duplicate.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority issues the permit as soon as possible, but no later than one month after receiving all the necessary documents.

A permit is issued in a single original copy and is kept in the possession of its owner. Any duplication of the permit, other than that performed by the competent authority when a duplicate is requested, is prohibited.

The permit is valid for 10 years, if the periodic checks are completed, respectively its holder is subject to periodic examinations and/or tests regarding:

• medical requirements - the minimum frequency must be respected in accordance with subsection 3.1 of annex no. 2 to the rules in the annex of HG no. 1611/2009. These medical checks are performed by accredited or recognized doctors in accordance with the legal provisions in force or under the supervision of the respective doctor;

• general professional knowledge - a continuous training process is instituted to ensure the maintenance of employees' skills.

When renewing a permit, the Romanian Railway Safety Authority checks in the register of locomotive drivers' permits whether the locomotive driver has fulfilled the requirements stipulated in letter a).

Persons or bodies recognized in accordance with HG no. 1611/2009 are recognized by the Romanian Railway Safety Authority. The recognition is based on the criteria of independence, competence and impartiality and on the evaluation of a file submitted by the candidates in which evidence of the appropriate competence for the respective field is provided. The recognition requirements and procedure is approved by order of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority ensures the publication and updating of a register of persons and bodies that have been accredited or recognized in accordance with GD no. 1611/2009.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority has the obligation to:

• to keep a register of all permits issued, updated, renewed, modified, expired, suspended, withdrawn or declared lost, stolen or destroyed. This register must contain the data mentioned in Commission Decision 2010/17/CE, which will be accessible with the help of the national number assigned to each locomotive driver. The register must be constantly updated;

• to provide the competent authority of a member state, the agency or any employer of locomotive drivers, based on a reasoned request, information about such a permit;

• to ensure that the register of permits and the manner of its exploitation is in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 677/2001 for the protection of individuals regarding the processing of personal data and the free circulation of such data, with subsequent amendments and additions.

Locomotive mechanics have access to the information that concerns them and that is entered in the permit register from the Romanian Railway Safety Authority, being able to obtain, upon request, a copy of this information.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority cooperates with the European Railway Agency to ensure the interoperability of the Romanian license register with those of the other EU member states.

The examinations and examiners considered for the purpose of verifying the necessary qualification are established, in the part regarding the permit, by the Romanian Railway Safety Authority, when the procedure to be followed to obtain a permit is established. The examinations are supervised by competent, accredited or recognized examiners and are organized in such a way as to avoid any conflict of interest.

The examinations are organized in such a way as to avoid any conflict of interests, without affecting the possibility that the examiner belongs to the railway transport operator or the administrator of the railway infrastructure that issues the certificate.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority can at any time take measures to check, on the trains operating on the Romanian railways, whether the locomotive engineers have in their possession the documents issued in accordance with GD no. 1611/2009. In the case of negligence at the workplace, the Romanian Railway Safety Authority can check whether the respective mechanic fulfills the conditions established for the granting of certificates.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority can carry out controls regarding compliance with the provisions of these rules by locomotive drivers, railway transport operators, railway infrastructure administrators/managers, examiners and by training centers operating in Romania.

The Romanian Railway Safety Authority considers that a mechanic no longer meets one or more necessary conditions, it will take the following measures:

• regarding a permit issued by the Romanian Railway Safety Authority, it may, depending on the seriousness of the problems created for railway safety, suspend or withdraw it, as the case may be, according to the regulations in force. It immediately informs the respective mechanic and his employer about his reasoned decision, without prejudice to the right to appeal;

• regarding a permit issued by a competent authority in another EU member state, the Romanian Railway Safety Authority contacts that authority and submits a reasoned request for an additional inspection or for the suspension of the permit. The requesting Romanian Railway Safety Authority informs the European Commission and the other competent authorities about its request. Locomotive mechanics are prohibited from carrying out their activity in the area of ​​national competence until the decision of the issuing authority is notified;

• regarding a certificate, the Romanian Railway Safety Authority contacts its issuing body and requests either an additional inspection or the suspension of the certificate. The competent authority can forbid locomotive drivers to operate in its area of ​​competence until the issuing body's report is issued and will inform the European Commission and the other competent authorities in this regard.

In all cases, if the Romanian Railway Safety Authority considers that a certain driver represents a serious threat to railway safety, it immediately takes the necessary actions, such as requesting the railway infrastructure administrator to stop the train and prohibit the driver from carries out its activity in its area of ​​competence as long as necessary. The Romanian Railway Safety Authority informs the European Commission and the other competent authorities about any such decision.