National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 14587‑3:2026. It supersedes BS EN 14587‑3:2012, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee RAE/2, Railway Applications - Track.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 October 2026.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 17 August 2026.

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. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists 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, Czechia, 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.

European foreword

This document (EN 14587‑3:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 256 “Railway applications”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by April 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by April 2027.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN 14587‑3:2012.

In comparison with the previous edition EN 14587‑3:2012, mainly the following technical modifications have been made:

clarification in how foot dimensions have to be measured, introducing a gauge and table for reference;
introducing cleaner instruction for the testing sequence, more details for visual inspection;
a better description of flat spots and clearer criteria for micro structure examination;
criteria for cross acceptance of materials;
added bend test requirements for high strength steels;
a new annex as guidance for geometrical inspection of welded joints.

This document is one of three parts in the EN 14587 series of standard “Railway applications – Track – Flash butt welding of rails”. The list of parts is as follows:

Part 1: New R220, R260, R260Mn, R320Cr, R350HT, R350LHT, R370CrHT and R400HT grade rails in a fixed plant;
Part 2: New R200, R220, R260, R260Mn, R320Cr, R350HT, R350LHT, R370CrHT and R400HT grade rails by mobile welding machines at sites other than a fixed plant;
Part 3: Welding in association with crossing construction (the present document).

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: 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 the United Kingdom.

Introduction

This document has four main topics:

procedure approval for a fixed plant;
requirements of a welding process;
weld production following approval;
approval of other rail profile or grades.

This document satisfies the needs of the railway authority. The manufacturer should achieve the specified requirements of this document.

1 Scope

This document specifies requirements for the approval of a welding process in a fixed plant, together with the requirements for subsequent welding production.

This document applies to new Vignole rails manufactured in accordance to EN 13674‑1 and welded by flash butt welding to crossing components in a fixed plant, and intended for use on railway infrastructures.

This document applies to cast Manganese crossings manufactured to EN 15689, fabricated crossings manufactured from rail and crossings manufactured from forged/rolled premium steels.

NOTE EN 14587‑1 is also used for the flash butt welding of switches.

Sometimes special profiles exist in crossing construction, which are not rail profiles as defined in EN 13674 series (example: profile with machined off rail foot). In these cases, tests are defined by the railway authority in participation with the manufacturer.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Information to be supplied for approval of procedure

4.1 By the purchaser

4.2 By the manufacturer

5 Approval of the manufacturer

5.1 General

5.2 Welding procedure

5.3 Operators

5.4 Supervision

5.5 Weld inspection

5.6 Equipment

5.7 Quality assurance

6 Requirements for the welding

6.1 General

6.2 Workpiece preparation

6.3 Clamping force

6.4 Initial burn-off

6.5 Preheating

6.6 Final flashing

6.7 Upsetting

6.8 Post-weld treatment

6.9 Welding parameters

6.10 Removal of upset and correction of weld alignment

7 Profile finishing of the weld

8 Weld geometry and dimensions

8.1 General

8.2 Alignment and flatness across the weld

8.3 Foot dimensions

9 Weld identification

10 Procedure approval

10.1 General

10.2 Test weld specimen preparation

10.3 Number of specimens

10.4 Approval tests

10.5 Test result report

10.6 Validity of approval

11 Approval of other rail profiles or grades

11.1 General

11.2 Sample preparation

11.3 Test result report

12 Track trials

12.1 General

12.2 Track trial test result report

13 Weld production following procedure approval

13.1 Weld production

13.2 Weld parameter monitoring

13.3 Visual inspections

13.4 Weld geometry and dimensions

13.5 Liquid penetrant testing and magnetic particle testing

13.6 Internal soundness

13.7 Bend testing

Bibliography