European Union Agency for Railways

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)

Download the full Terminology
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

European Court of Justice (ECJ)

Infrastructure

Glossary

European Rail Infrastructure Managers

European Development Fund (EDF)

EU Policy

Glossary

EU budget glossary - A list of the most common words and useful terms concerning the EU budget

European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG)

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025

European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)

Infrastructure

Glossary

European Rail Infrastructure Managers

European Identification Number

Entity in Charge of Maintenance

Sectorial Scheme

Sectorial Scheme for accreditation and recognition of ECM certification bodies under Regulation (EU) 2019/779. ERA 1172/002 V3.1 on 15/06/2020

European instruction

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025

European instruction

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

European Maritime Single Window environment or EMSWe

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

European office

EU Policy

Regulation

Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast)

European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC)

Infrastructure

Glossary

European Rail Infrastructure Managers

European Rail Traffic Management System

ERTMS

Technical Document

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

European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

Infrastructure

Glossary

European Rail Infrastructure Managers

European rail traffic management system (ERTMS)

EU Policy

Glossary

Eurostat Transport Glossary on web release November 2024

European Rail Traffic Management System or 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

European Railway Agency

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

European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

RNE Glossary

Glossary

RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025

European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles (ERATV)

Vehicles / VA

Application Guide

Application Guide for the European register of authorised types of railway vehicles (ERATV) - v.5.7 on09.04.2025

European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles (ERATV)

Vehicles / VA

Application Guide

GUI/LOC&PAS TSI/2021 - version 3.0 on 15/02/2021 Guide for the application of the LOC&PAS TSI (Commission Regulation (EU) No 1302/2014 of 18 November 2014 and amended by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/776) In accordance with Article 19(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016

European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles (ERATV)

Interoperability

Application Guide

Application_guide GUI/TSI/2023 Version 1.0 20/12/2023Guide for the application of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs)

European specification

Interoperability

Directive

Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union (recast)