The International Union of Railways (UIC, french: Union internationale des chemins de fer) is an international

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

industry body.

History

The railways of Europe originated as many separate concerns, and there were many border changes after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. Colonial railways were the responsibility of the mother country. Into this environment the UIC was created on 17 October 1922, with the aim of standardising industry practices. Ticket revenue sharing was originally undertaken with the UIC Franc currency equivalent. UIC classification and

UIC Country Code The UIC Country Code is a two digit-number identifying countries in which members of the International Union of Railways (UIC) are active. The UIC has issued numbering systems for rolling stock ( UIC wagon numbers) and stations that include the cou ...

s allowed precise determination of rolling stock capabilities and ownership, with wagons assigned unique

UIC wagon numbers Wagon numbers (or coach numbers) are key data for railway operations. They enable a railway wagon or coach to be positively identified and form a common language between railway operators, infrastructure companies and the state authorities. The ...

. The 1990s GSM-R radio telecommunication system is an international

interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...

specification covering voice and signalling systems for railway communications whose specification is maintained by the International Union of Railways project European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS).

Mission

The UIC's mission is "to promote rail transport at world level and meet the challenges of mobility and sustainable development."UIC Overview
as at 12 March 2009.

Objectives

The UIC's main objectives are to: * Facilitate the sharing of best practices among members (benchmarking) * Support members in their efforts to develop new business and new areas of activities * Propose new ways to improve technical and environmental performance * Promote interoperability, create new world standards for railways (including common standards with other transport modes) * Develop centres of competence (High Speed, Safety, Security, e-Business, ...)

Members

When founded in 1922 the UIC had 51 members from 29 countries, including Japan and China. They were soon joined by members from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the Middle East and North Africa. As of 2021, the UIC has 207 members across five continents. Of these there are: * 73 active members (including from Afghanistan, China, Europe,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa and Taiwan, and companies operating worldwide such as Transdev) * 68 associate members (including from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia) * 53 affiliate members (related or ancillary businesses or services) On 12 November 2010, the UIC opened an African regional office in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, Tunisia with the support of SNCFT. On 9 March 2022, the UIC suspended all member companies from Russia and Belarus, following

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

Standard terminology

In order to provide a common understanding and reduce potential confusion, the UIC has established standard international railway terminology and a trilingual (English-French-German) thesaurus of terms. The thesaurus was the result of cooperation with the

European Conference of Ministers of Transport The International Transport Forum (ITF) is an inter-governmental organisation within the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) system. It is the only global body with a mandate for all modes of transport. It acts as a t ...

(ECMT/) and was published in 1995.

Classification of railway vehicles

The UIC has established systems for the classification of

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

and their axle arrangements,

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and

goods wagons Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon type ...

Some UIC regulations

UIC plays an important role in standardization of railway parts, data and terminology. Therefore, UIC codes (also known as UIC leaflet) are developed since the beginning of UIC's work. A new term for these UIC leaflets is used by UIC for better understanding: International Railway Solution (IRS). Some UIC codes are: * UIC 568 The 13-corded standardized connection

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

with connector is used to transmit data and commands between the locomotive and the carriages of a passenger train. * UIC 592-2 Large containers for transport on wagons - Technical conditions to be fulfilled by large containers accepted for use in international traffic. Describes the classes and categories of large containers, handling characteristics, identification markings, and special conditions applying to large tank containers. * UIC 592-3 Large containers (CT), swap bodies (CM) and transport frames for horizontal transhipment (CA) - Standard report on acceptance tests. * UIC 592-4 Swap bodies for grab handling and spreader gripping - Technical conditions. Swap bodies are the removable superstructures of road transport vehicles. Their dimensions and some of their fittings are standardised, particularly dimensions, strength parameters and securing devices, of the road vehicle, the wagon and transhipment arrangements (grab-handling grooves, lower securing parts and, in special cases, upper securing parts). * UIC 596-5 Transport of road vehicles on wagons - Technical organisation - Conveyance of semi-trailers with P coding or N coding on recess wagons. This leaflet sets out regulations and provisions for semi-trailers with normal road transport characteristics for conveyance on fixed-recess carrier wagons. The provisions are valid for semi-trailers, gantry equipment/industrial trucks with grab handles, recess wagon types 1a and 1b in accordance with UIC Leaflet 571–4. * UIC 596-6 Conveyance of road vehicles on wagons - Technical organisation - Conditions for coding combined-transport load units and combined-transport lines. The leaflet sets out the coding and organisation of loading units in respect of road vehicles on wagons, designed to ensure compatibility of loading units (LU) with the permissible profile for combined transport lines. The provisions aim to facilitate LU identification to speed-up international traffic movements. They are applicable to semi-trailers, swap bodies, roller units loaded on wagons and bogies in combined transport operations. *FU-7100 Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) User Requirements Specification. Defines a set of technology independent user requirements in the form of individual applications. Each application has been defined to provide or support an identified communications need that is considered necessary for current and future railway operation.

References

External links

Official website

UIC Member list
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Union of Railways Organizations established in 1922 Railway associations International transport organizations