Skip to main content

ERA Railway Terminology Collection

The ERA Railway Terminology Collection gathers terms and abbreviations that are contained in the EU legal framework for railway, technical documents produced by bodies which are engaged in the development of important evolution in the railway system and other relevant glossaries.

Click here for more information

Latest update: 1 May 2025

The file you will get by clicking the "Download the full Terminology" button below is in CSV format. To convert it to a readable Excel file:

1. Download the CSV file
2. Open a blank Excel sheet
3. Go to DataGet Data from CSV → select the CSV file you just downloaded
4. The Excel file will be generated (without any encoding issues)

Starting with "R" (513)

ERA Railway Terminology Collection is a consultation tool, developed to support the sharing of information through the actors involved in running the Single European Railway Area (SERA). The responsibility for the correctness, completeness, accuracy, or reliability of the information in ERA RTC lays upon the authors of the definitions, as they derive from reference documents having their own preparation and approval flow. Users cannot call ERA liable for the use they make of the content. Please consider that when the collection is exported (.csv) and then printed or converted, it becomes uncontrolled.
Term Context Document Type Origin document

Radio System Compatibility (RSC)

Control-Command and Signalling

Regulation

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1695 of 10 August 2023 on the technical specification for interoperability relating to the control-command and signalling subsystems of the rail system in the European Union and repealing Regulation (EU) 2016/919

Radio system compatibility data

Infrastructure

Regulation

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/777 of 16 May 2019 on the common specifications for the register of railway infrastructure and repealing Implementing Decision 2014/880/EU

Radio system compatibility voice

Infrastructure

Regulation

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/777 of 16 May 2019 on the common specifications for the register of railway infrastructure and repealing Implementing Decision 2014/880/EU

Radio waves

ERTMS

Directive

Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of radio equipment and repealing Directive 1999/5/EC

Radio-based ERTMS

Infrastructure

Regulation

Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1153 and (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013

Radioactive contents

International Relations

Convention

Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) Appendix C – Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID)

Radiodetermination

ERTMS

Directive

Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of radio equipment and repealing Directive 1999/5/EC

Rail coach

EU Policy

Glossary

Glossary for transport statistics - 5TH EDITION 2019

Rail Facilities Portal (RFP)

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2023

Rail Freight Corridor (RFC)

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2023

Rail freight governance

Infrastructure

Regulation

Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1153 and (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013

Rail freight terminal

EU Policy

Glossary

Glossary for transport statistics - 5TH EDITION 2019

Rail freight transport

EU Policy

Glossary

Eurostat Transport Glossary on web

Rail inclination

Infrastructure

Regulation

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/777 of 16 May 2019 on the common specifications for the register of railway infrastructure and repealing Implementing Decision 2014/880/EU

Rail inclination

Infrastructure

TSI

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1299/2014 of 18 November 2014 on the technical specifications for interoperability relating to the ‘infrastructure’ subsystem of the rail system in the European Union

Rail infrastructure

Common Safety Method

Application Guide

Safety management system requirements for safety certification or safety authorisation. Version 1.3 Manuscript completed in April 2021

Rail infrastructure manager

EU Policy

Glossary

Glossary for transport statistics - 5TH EDITION 2019

Rail loading gauge

EU Policy

Glossary

Glossary for transport statistics - 5TH EDITION 2019

Rail loading gauge

Freight

Glossary

Terminology on Combined Transport from Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE). Prepared by the UN/ECE, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) and the European Commission (EC). UNITED NATIONS - New York and Geneva, 2001

Rail Market Monitoring Scheme (RMMS)

Infrastructure

Glossary

European Rail Infrastructure Managers