National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 15594:2026. It supersedes BS EN 15594:2009, which is withdrawn.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 3 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 15594:2026) 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 15594:2009.

This document includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 15594:2009:

normative references have been updated;
additional rail steel grades have been included;
microstructure and macrostructure requirements have been updated;
an Annex ZA has been included.

The purpose of this document is to unify the restoration of rail electric arc welding across Europe. The document provides control systems for the approval and qualification of welding processes, welding procedures, welding consumables, contractors and welders for the successful delivery of welds into track.

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.

For the relationship with EU Legislation, see informative Annex ZA, which is an integral part of this 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

Restoration of rails by electric arc welding is a special process requiring the coordination of welding and grinding activities to establish confidence and reliability of the weld deposit and safety of the line. Controls are to be in place from the design phase through to inspection. Incorrect selection of materials, consumables or procedure can result in serious track welding failure.

It is important to strictly adhere to the correct application of the approved processes and the types of repairs permitted to be carried out on various rail components. Only consumables approved by the method described in this document should be used. The tasks and responsibilities of personnel involved in restoration, e.g. planning, executing, supervising and inspection should be clearly defined.

1 Scope

This document specifies restoration by electric arc welding and is limited to the head of the rails only.

This document describes the approval systems for consumables and procedures used in manual metal arc and flux cored metal deposit rail repair welding. This document includes the quality-related tasks and responsibilities of personnel involved in the electric arc repair welding of rails. This document applies to plain rail and switches and crossings manufactured from new Vignole railway rails R200, R220, R260, R260Mn, and R350HT grades rails of 27 kg/m and above as contained in EN 13674‑1, EN 13674‑2 and EN 13674‑4.

The permitted welding processes are limited to Electric Arc (EA) in accordance with EN ISO 4063 and are by description Process No 111: SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) and Process No 114: FCAW (Flux Cored Arc Welding).

This document is applicable in situ, at line side or at out of track locations. The flash welded leg ends of austenitic manganese steel crossings are included in this document, except when located within 500 mm of manganese crossings. Where repairs are required within 500 mm, refer to EN 16725.

2 Normative references

3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms

4 Consumable and WPS approval tests for SMAW electrodes and FCAW wires

4.1 General

4.2 Consumable and WPS approval model

4.3 Information for the test

4.4 Batch testing

4.5 Test requirements

4.6 Laboratory tests

4.7 Track trial tests

4.8 Evaluation, reporting and decision following track trials

4.9 Validation of consumables

5 Approval of contractors

5.1 Quality management systems

5.2 Inspection and testing

5.3 Subcontracting

5.4 Equipment

5.5 Welding activities

5.6 Storage and handling of welding consumables

5.7 Care of the infrastructure

5.8 Welding procedure specifications

5.9 Pre-heating of rails

5.10 Welders

5.11 Welder records

5.12 Supervision

5.13 Traceability

5.14 Audits

5.15 Training

5.16 Documentation

6 Personnel and qualification requirements

6.1 Training and qualification requirements

6.2 Diploma in electric arc welding of rails

6.3 Permit to restore rails by electric arc welding

7 Repair applications

Bibliography