The first ever international railway line is that which linked Liège and Cologne in 1843.

From 1872, the European Passenger Train Timetable Conference defined the times of passenger trains, particularly for cross-border operations, as well as the consist of international trains and connections with domestic services. Network representatives met each year with a view to ensuring speedy, punctual, safe and comfortable passenger services.

In August 1882, following the inauguration of the Saint-Gothard Railway which so clearly illustrated the railways’ international calling, the Swiss Federal Council invited the governments from the adjoining states to an international conference of experts on the technical unity of railways. On 21 October 1882, the state representatives signed a…

In 1876 an international union for the exchange of rolling stock was established in Brussels, which was responsible mainly for the repatriation of empty freight cars, the carriage of train parts, the repair of damage, and the payment of bonuses and insurance claims, etc. Members included the railways of Germany,…

The beginnings of UIC go back to the period immediately following the First World War. When the Paris Peace Conference took place in early 1919 to prepare the forthcoming Treaty of Versailles, the allied powers entrusted a Commission on the International Regime of Ports, Waterways and Railways with the task…

The Council of the League of Nations (LON), officially formed in 1919 and established in Geneva in 1920, tasked a temporary committee for communication and transit with preparing proposals for “the creation of an organisation which will form part of the LON to address issues related to communication and transit…and…

The International Union of Railways – the nascent UIC – was composed of three management bodies: a General Assembly, an Executive Board comprising 12 members and the chairman (whose mandate began the same day), and a permanent general secretariat based in Paris. At the proposal of the British delegate, Alfred…

The work carried out within the five permanent technical committees resulted in the publication of “UIC leaflets”, technical documents whose application was either obligatory or optional. These technical leaflets constituted the beginning of an international railway “code”, also known in practice as the “UIC Code”. Initially published in French and…

Amongst the subjects benefiting from technical cooperation and international harmonisation were the conditions governing the use of continuous braking ; the safety of vehicles operating under catenaries; new signalling standards; the study of the risks run by railway staff ; the easing of financial exchange between railway companies (following a…

Interfrigo (a refrigerated and temperature-controlled transport company founded in 1949) and Intercontainer, an international combined transport company (known today as ICF: Intercontainer-Interfrigo); and the Europabus grouping, comprising the international tourist coach services operated by 14 railway companies. The European Pallet Pool (EPP) and the European Box Pallet Pool (EBPP) managed…

In 1949, the United Nations Organisation (Economic and Social Council) granted UIC consultative status to the UN to represent the railway sector worldwide. This administrative act was of symbolic value: it was the first mandate given to UIC by the international community to represent and promote this mode of transport…

The company Eurofima, was formed in 1956 by 13 networks to facilitate the financing of rolling stock acquisition and conversion;

In the area of technical study and research, UIC created its Office for Research and Experiments (ORE) in 1950 in Utrecht (Netherlands). The latter was in charge of carrying out studies for the purposes of standardisation and, more generally, any studies and experimentation work necessary for the projects coordinated by…

The EUROP WagonPool, a European operations pool initially bringing together the railways of France and Germany, and subsequently expanding to include a dozen or so networks; the famous Trans-Europ Express (TEE) grouping, born of a Dutch initiative with seven participating networks and 13 routes launched in 1957.

in 1956, under the impetus of the Soviet Union, the socialist countries created the Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD in Russian), headquartered in Warsaw. Most of the OSJD member railways (bar the USSR, North Vietnam, North Korea and Cuba, etc.) were also members of UIC; this was notably the…

The creation in 1958, against the backdrop of the signing of the Treaty of Rome (1957), of a high-quality Trans Europ Express (TEE) network remains a significant milestone in the development of a trans-European rail network serving the citizens of this new community, offering passengers uniform quality standards on all…

Under the impetus of its passenger and freight commercial committees, UIC defined train networks with a European seal of approval, which offered customers standardised quality criteria on all the connections served by these trains. For freight, this was the Trans-Europe Express Freight network (TEEM, formed in 1961) and EurailCargo in…

The advantages of high speed rail operations were first identified during the period prior to the Second World War, in particular in the light of the technical progress made in the areas of electric traction and aerodynamics. Following further developments in electrical supply and traction during the 1950s (it is…

The InterRail pass, heavily associated with the idea of international mobility and freedom of young travellers, was established at UIC in 1972 to mark the association’s 50th anniversary. The InterRail pass has considerably evolved in format to adapt to new market circumstances, but it still exists today and is run…

© Christophe Recoura

In 1981, the TGV Sud-Est was opened on the new Paris-Lyon line, covering 417 km and operating at speeds of up to 270 km/hr. It was followed by the TGV Atlantique (1989 – 1990), travelling at 300 km/hr, and the TGV Nord in 1993. The first routes in both Japan…

For passengers, the EuroCity (EC, launched in 1987) and Trans-Euro Night (TEN) trains offered these uniform quality standards.

Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand inaugurated the Channel Tunnel on 6 may 1994. Inauguration Eurostar train sets left from London and Paris and made for the first time a junction in Calais.

C Christophe Recoura

© Hervé Aubert

The geographical area covered by UIC has constantly expanded since 1922. Beyond the initial group of 51 members comprising the railways of Europe and physically connected regions – Near and Middle-East, the Maghreb and Asia (the core of “active members”) – UIC has gradually established cooperative links with railways on…

HERMES constituted the first project designed to connect member railways’ IT systems. The first set of functionalities related to centralised traffic management, electronic seat reservation, etc