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.

Click here for more information

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

Filter by context

Filter by document type

Filter by latest release

Sort by

Items per page

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 track gauge	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail transit	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail transit	EU Policy	Glossary	Eurostat Transport Glossary on web release November 2024
Rail transport	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail transport undertaking or Railway undertaking	International Relations	COTIF Document	Uniform Rules concerning the Technical Admission of Railway Material used in International Traffic (ATMF - Appendix G to the Convention) version of 01.11.2023
Rail van	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Rail-related service	SERA_EU Transport	Regulation	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2177 of 22 November 2017 on access to service facilities and rail-related services
Railcar	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Railcar	International Standard	ISO	ISO/DIS 22575(en) Railway applications — General terms and definitions
Railcar	Vehicles / VA	TSI	Commission Regulation (EU) No 1302/2014 of 18 November 2014 concerning a technical specification for interoperability relating to the rolling stock — locomotives and passenger rolling stock subsystem of the rail system in the European Union
Railcar trailer	Withdrawn	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
RailNetEurope (RNE)	RNE Glossary	Glossary	RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025
Railway	EU Policy	Regulation	Regulation (EU) 2018/643 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 April 2018 on rail transport statistics
Railway	EU Policy	Glossary	Eurostat Transport Glossary on web release November 2024
Railway / rail infrastructure (EU definition)	RNE Glossary	Glossary	RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025
Railway Collaborative Decision Making (R/CDM)	RNE Glossary	Glossary	RNE Glossary - NS_CID_Glossary_2025
Railway enterprise	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Railway enterprise-owned wagon	Withdrawn	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
Railway infrastructure	SERA_EU Transport	Directive	Directive 2012/34/EU of the Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area (recast)
Railway infrastructure	International Relations	Convention	Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) Appendix C – Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID)

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