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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Disclaimer
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
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 (IM)	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail loading gauge	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
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
Rail mounted machine	International Standard	ISO	ISO/DIS 22575(en) Railway applications — General terms and definitions
Rail Net Europe (RNE)	Infrastructure	Glossary	European Rail Infrastructure Managers
Rail pad	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 passenger	EU Policy	Regulation	Regulation (EU) 2018/643 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 April 2018 on rail transport statistics
Rail passenger disembarked	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026
Rail passenger embarked	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026
Rail passenger fare	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail passenger trip	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail passenger-kilometre (pkm)	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail product	Telematics Applications for Passenger and Freight Services	TSI	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/253 of 6 February 2026 on a technical specification relating to the telematics subsystem of the rail system in the European Union for interoperability of data sharing in rail transport (TEL TSI) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 (TAP TSI) and (EU) No 1305/2014 (TAF TSI)	Latest release
Rail Public Service Obligation (PSO)	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail return current	Interoperability	Decision	Commission Decision of 30 November 2009 on the reference document referred to in Article 27(4) of Directive 2008/57/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the rail system within the Community. (2009/965/EC)
Rail Standardisation Coordination Platform for Europe (RASCOP)	Infrastructure	Glossary	European Rail Infrastructure Managers
Rail system	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
Rail ticketing	Telematics Applications for Passenger and Freight Services	TSI	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/253 of 6 February 2026 on a technical specification relating to the telematics subsystem of the rail system in the European Union for interoperability of data sharing in rail transport (TEL TSI) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 (TAP TSI) and (EU) No 1305/2014 (TAF TSI)	Latest release

Common Safety Method
Conformity Assessment
Control-Command and Signalling
Data Protection
Energy
Entity in Charge of Maintenance
ERTMS
EU Policy
Freight
Infrastructure
International Relations
International Standard
Interoperability
Noise
Operation
Persons with Reduced Mobility
Railway Tunnels
Registers
Regulation
RNE Glossary
Safety / SSC-SA
Security
SERA_EU Transport
Single Market Mutual Recognition Conformity Assessment
SMS Safety Culture Human and Organisational Factor
Telematics Applications for Passenger and Freight Services
Vehicles / VA
Withdrawn

Agreement
Application Guide
Certification Scheme
CIT Document
Convention
COTIF Document
Council Recommendation
Decision
Directive
ERA Technical Document
EU Technical Document
Glossary
Guide
International Agreement
ISO
Manual
Recommendation
Regulation
Sectorial Scheme
Technical Document
TSI
Website