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
CSM	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
CSM	Interoperability	Application Guide	Application_guide GUI/TSI/2023 Version 1.0 20/12/2023Guide for the application of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs)
CSM	Entity in Charge of Maintenance	Certification Scheme	Certification scheme for ECM and outsourced maintenance functions under Regulation (EU) 2019/779
CSM	Entity in Charge of Maintenance	Application Guide	Guidance on ECM Certification process Guide for the application of Article 14 of Directive (EU) 2016/798 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2019/779 on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance for vehicles Version 10.0 on 04/12/2025
CSM	ERTMS	Technical Document	ERTMS/ETCS - Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations - version : 4.0.0 - date 05/07/2023
CSM on risk assessment	Railway Tunnels	TSI	Commission Regulation (EU) No 1303/2014 of 18 November 2014 concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to ‘safety in railway_tunnels’ of the rail system of the Europea
CSM RA	Vehicles / VA	Application Guide	Guidelines for the practical arrangements for the vehicle authorisation process - v. 2.1 on 14/02/2024
CST	EU Policy	EU Technical Document	Technical document from the Publications Office of the European Union - ‘Style guide’ Coordination Interinstitutional Style Guide - version on 19.04.2022
CST	Interoperability	Application Guide	Application_guide GUI/TSI/2023 Version 1.0 20/12/2023Guide for the application of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs)
cSt	Withdrawn	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
CSTE	EU Policy	Glossary	Glossary for transport statistics - 6TH EDITION 2026	Latest release
CSTs	Safety / SSC-SA	Application Guide	Implementation Guidance for CSIs - v. 6.0 on 24.05.2023
CSTs	Safety / SSC-SA	Directive	Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on railway safety (recast)
CT	Withdrawn	TSI	Commission Regulation (EU) No 1305/2014 of 11 December 2014 on the technical specification for interoperability relating to the telematics applications for freight subsystem of the rail system in the European Union and repealing the Regulation (EC) No 62/2006	Latest release
CT	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
CTA	Withdrawn	Application Guide	TAP TSI Annex B.50 Timetable application_guide - version 1.0 of 06/12/2013	Latest release
CTD	Infrastructure	Application Guide	Guide on the application of the common specifications of the register of Infrastructure - v. 3.1.0 on 31.03.2025
CTR	International Standard	EU Technical Document	CEN CENELEC ABBRAVIATION ACRONYM 2025
CTS	International Standard	EU Technical Document	CEN CENELEC ABBRAVIATION ACRONYM 2025
CTS	EU Policy	EU Technical Document	Technical document from the Publications Office of the European Union - ‘Style guide’ Coordination Interinstitutional Style Guide - version on 19.04.2022

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