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ERA Railway Terminology visual v0 featured

ERA Railway Terminology Collection

Last updated: 12 March 2026

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.

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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 Data → Get Data from CSV → select the CSV file you just downloaded
4. The Excel file will be generated (without any encoding issues)

Starting with "T" (619)

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

Train despatch

Operation

TSI

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/773 of 16 May 2019 on the technical specification for interoperability relating to the operation and traffic management subsystem of the rail system within the European Union and repealing Decision 2012/757/EU

Train detection

ERTMS

Technical Document

ERTMS/ETCS - Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations - version : 4.0.0 - date 05/07/2023

Train detection

International Standard

ISO

ISO/DIS 22575(en) Railway applications — General terms and definitions

Train detection system

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

Train dispatcher

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025

Train driver

SMS Safety Culture Human and Organisational Factor

Directive

Directive 2007/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the certification of train drivers operating locomotives and trains on the railway system in the Community

Train Driver

ERTMS

Glossary

ERTMS/ATO Glossary - version 2 on 05.07.2023

Train driver licence

SMS Safety Culture Human and Organisational Factor

Directive

Adapted from Directive 2007/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the certification of train drivers operating locomotives and trains on the railway system in the Community

Train Estimated time of Arrival

Withdrawn

TSI

Commission Regulation (EU) No 454/2011 of 5 May 2011 on the technical specification for interoperability relating to the subsystem ‘telematics applications for passenger services’ of the trans-European rail system

Latest release

Train Hold

ERTMS

Glossary

ERTMS/ATO Glossary - version 2 on 05.07.2023

Train Holding Brake

ERTMS

Glossary

ERTMS/ATO Glossary - version 2 on 05.07.2023

Train Information System (TIS)

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025

Train integrity

ERTMS

Technical Document

ERTMS/ETCS - Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations - version : 4.0.0 - date 05/07/2023

Train integrity confirmation from on-board (not from driver) necessary for line access

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

Train interface unit

ERTMS

Technical Document

ERTMS/ETCS - Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations - version : 4.0.0 - date 05/07/2023

Train is Moving

ERTMS

Glossary

ERTMS/ATO Glossary - version 2 on 05.07.2023

Train is Stopped

ERTMS

Glossary

ERTMS/ATO Glossary - version 2 on 05.07.2023

Train length

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

Train loading and unloading

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025

Train movement

ERTMS

Technical Document

ERTMS/ETCS - Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations - version : 4.0.0 - date 05/07/2023