Rail-mounted lighting is now in the OVS. Railpuck is already on track.
Since 1 July 2026, a new version of OVS00235 Terreinverlichting has been in force. In this design standard, ProRail, the Dutch railway infrastructure manager, sets out how lighting on railway sites and along the track should be designed, for example in railway yards and along turnback sidings.
This version adds a section on luminaires mounted on the rail. Alongside lighting columns and span wire lighting, rail mounting is now a recognised design option with its own principles.
Put those principles next to Railpuck and the similarities are clear.
What is OVS00235?
OVS00235 is ProRail’s design standard for railway site lighting. It sets the requirements lighting has to meet: how much light each type of path needs, how much energy may be used per square metre, how light spill into the surroundings is limited, and how the lighting is switched and dimmed. Engineering consultants and designers check their designs against this standard. Version 003 adds the rail itself as a mounting point for luminaires.
Light from the web of the rail
Railpuck fits into the web of the rail in seconds and casts low, grazing light across the walkway. The light falls on the path and the ground surface, where people walk. Light spill into the surroundings stays limited.
The OVS is based on the same principle. Luminaires are clamped to the rail, without drilling or bonding, and light the path directly alongside the track. Railpuck runs on 36 V DC, the type of supply the standard requires for this application.
Where rail-mounted lighting fits
The OVS is clear about the application. Rail-mounted lighting is intended as walkway lighting alongside the track, for walkways and inspection paths on tracks with low line speeds. Service walkways, where work is carried out on trains, still need light from a greater height.
That is why each project looks at which paths suit Railpuck. Often it covers part of a site, with lighting columns or span wires where they work better.
The principles are already in place
With the new OVS, nobody has to work out from scratch how rail-mounted lighting fits into a design. The principles are in the standard, and there is a product developed around them.
It also saves work in the design documentation. Lighting columns have to be specified and given foundations. For a luminaire mounted on the rail, the OVS states that a description of the rail profile is sufficient. Raillighting provides the lighting calculation and helps determine where the luminaires should go.
Installation without columns or foundations
The difference shows most clearly on site. No columns need to be put up and no foundations are needed, so no heavy plant either. Railpuck clicks into the rail and the pucks are connected by cables. That means few actions per light point and less time on the track.
Efficient light in the right place
In the OVS, ProRail asks for lighting with the lowest possible energy use and as little light spill into the surroundings as possible. Railpuck has a very low power consumption and directs its light onto the path. Over the length of a railway yard and the lifetime of the installation, that adds up.
The OVS also asks for lighting that dims when nobody is on the path and comes back up as soon as work starts. Railsens detects people along the track and adjusts the Railpuck lighting accordingly: full brightness during work, dimmed when inactive.
Railpuck in practice
At Vlissingen Station, around 600 metres of pathway alongside the track has been fitted with Railpuck. Across two paths, 173 luminaires have been installed, each drawing 2.8 watts. Railpuck is also in use in railway yards in Den Bosch, Apeldoorn and Onnen, among others.
Include Railpuck in your design
For railway sites where walkways need lighting, Raillighting advises on the application of Railpuck and provides the lighting calculation.
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