On 6 and 7 May 2025, the steering committee for the statistics platform met in Bratislava, Slovakia, at the headquarters of the Slovak national infrastructure manager, Railways of the Slovak Republic (ŽSR). The meeting lasted a day and a half.
The meeting began with a general presentation of the Slovak railway network by Ivana Totava. She provided an overview of the evolution of the ŽSR, and its establishment in 1993 following the split of Czechoslovakia. In 2002, ŽSR was reorganised to become the national railway infrastructure manager, separate from the passenger transport company (ZSSK) and the freight operator (ZSSK Cargo). Today, ŽSR is responsible for the construction, modernisation, and maintenance of the railway network, as well as capacity allocation, traffic management, and related services. The main ongoing project is the completion of the Žilina-Teplička marshalling yard, located at the strategic intersection of two TEN-T corridors (Baltic-Adriatic and Rhine-Danube) in the north-west of the country.
The meeting continued with the announcement of the second edition of IRS 30398, a document that outlines the rules for the submission, compilation, and publication of international railway statistics. In this context, the committee discussed data sharing via the Railisa application, especially for academic use by students, PhD candidates, and university-affiliated researchers. A key question was raised: Can UIC member-restricted data be shared in the context of public research? Several sharing options were considered, with it ultimately being decided to launch a survey to be sent all statistical correspondents in the coming weeks to gather general feedback from members.
An update was provided on the revision of the Glossary of Transport Statistics (Eurostat /International Transport Forum at the OECD (ITF-OECD)/United Nations Economic Commission for Europe(UNECE)), which is now entering its final phase. The committee welcomed the constructive cooperation between the various organisations regarding the railway chapter. UIC’s recommendations have been integrated into the glossary, and, in turn, UIC has aligned it explanatory notes with the glossary definitions. Nevertheless, some adjustments are still needed, particularly concerning the classification of passenger rolling stock and the calculation of vehicle and trainset mileage, especially for multiple units. This work is ongoing, with efforts focused on clarifying definitions, diagrams, and explanatory notes.
On the topic of train punctuality for both passenger and freight services, an informal survey revealed that wide disparities exist in delay thresholds used by infrastructure managers, making comparisons difficult. Therefore, the committee decided to also systematically collect the specific delay thresholds used by each manager in relation to punctuality performance. Accordingly, in data collection Table No. 19, the applied thresholds will now need to be explicitly stated. In parallel, UIC will consult with European regulators to gain a better understanding of common methods and thresholds used to calculate punctuality.
Several other points were discussed, particularly regarding the definitions and calculation methods for statistical indicators. The decisions made are available in the meeting minutes, accessible via the extranet.
Finally, looking ahead to 2026, the committee reminded the participants that the renewal of the Statistical Platform presidency as well as the working group leaders must be approved during the 2025 plenary session. A call for applications will be launched in June and July.
More information on the meeting can be found on the extranet at:
https://extranet.uic.org/en/files?grp=670.
UIC members are invited to keep on providing their data using our online tool at: http://stats.uic.org/.
To download UIC data, visit Railisa at: http://uic-stats.uic.org/.
For any information concerning the statistics at UIC, please send an email to stat at uic.org.
