Identification marking for freight rolling stock
STANDARD published on 1.5.2004
Designation standards: UIC 438-2-7ed.
Publication date standards: 1.5.2004
The number of pages: 50
Approximate weight : 150 g (0.33 lbs)
Country: International technical standard
Summary
In a railway system, it is essential that each vehicle has a number. This gives it a unique designation and provides a common language for Railway Undertakings (RUs), infrastructure managers and the competent authorities in charge of wagon registration to:
issue certificates for the vehicle;
monitor the vehicle in operation;
manage the maintenance;
deliver and accept vehicles between RUs;
make settlements at accounting and financial levels.
The existing number structure includes the code, on the 3rd and 4th digit, of the railway which owns the vehicle or which has registered the private vehicle. The restructuring of Railways in numerous countries has led to reconsideration of this concept. Its change into a country code means:
that a RU does not depend on another RU for the registration of its wagons;
a wagon keeper can choose the RU it wants to ensure a transport service.
This leaflet describes the structure of the freight rolling stock number, and the marking used for the identification of a vehicle. With the notion of country code and the use of abbreviations, to identify the country in which the wagon is registered and the vehicle keeper, a numbering system will be applied, that complies with the evolutions of the railway world.