Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)-the route to compliance for railway fixed power supplies from a contractor's view point

Since the entry into force of the UK EMC Regulations in 1992 the profile of those engineering design features that relate to EMC has risen significantly. This has resulted, within the railway industry amongst others, in the introduction of formally documented EMC management systems, which include the requirement for confirmatory EMC testing, driven by guidance provided by EMC consultants and other bodies responsible for the interpretation of the UK EMC Regulations. The fundamental requirements of these regulations, known as the "essential protection requirements", are that equipment shall operate correctly in the intended electromagnetic environment, without interfering with the operation of any other equipment in that environment. The Transportation and Industrial Power Supplies Division of CEGELEC PROJECTS Limited (CPL) has been successfully supplying fixed power supplies to the railway industry without problems over many years. One of the reasons for this success is that CPL has continuously developed a design code of practice to achieve EMC. This paper compares and draws conclusions from CPL's experiences of satisfying the essential protection requirements by two different routes for railway fixed power supplies. The first route is through a formally documented EMC management system including EMC testing for a mass transit system within the European Economic Area (EEA), and the second route is through using established design codes of practice applicable to equipment intended for the railway environment for a mass transit system outside the EEA.