This document specifies the characteristics of the axles for all track gauges.

This document applies to heavy railway vehicles but may also apply to other vehicles such as light railway vehicles, trams or undergrounds.

It defines the characteristics of axles manufactured by forging or rolling, in vacuum-degassed steel, grade EA1N¹, EA1T1 and EA4T1. For hollow axles, this document only applies to those obtained by machining the hole in a solid forged or rolled axle.

The requirements defined in this standard apply to cylindrical wheel seats. Most of the requirements also apply to wheelsets with conical wheel seats. Specific requirements for conical wheel seats (e.g. geometric dimensions) are defined in the technical specification.

Some characteristics are given according to category 1 or category 2.

This document applies to axles whose design complies with the rules defined in EN 13103‑1.

This document also allows variations in material characteristics in relation to alternative manufacturing processes (e.g. cold forging, shot peening, thermal spraying, steel cleanliness, reduction ratio, improvement of material properties through fusion or heat treatment processes, etc.).