UIC

Standards for railways

The International Union of Railways (UIC) was founded with the idea of standardising operating conditions in the rail sector. As a worldwide organisation for cooperation between railways, in September 2013 UIC consisted of 207 members. As such it forms the working organ of the Treaty on Technical Unity in the Rail Sector. This treaty laid the foundations for consistent standards in international rail transport. UIC’s members consist of railway companies, infrastructure operators and companies performing ancillary activities.  

UIC has drawn up various numbering systems, among them the UIC numbering scheme for traction vehicles, the UIC type classification system for passenger coaches, UIC railcar numbers, the UIC countries code and the Harmonised Commodity Code (NHM).