Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The statistics are compiled and transmitted quarterly to Eurostat.
Mandatory data collection at EU level is based on legal act, the Regulation EU 2018/643 and covers goods and passengers. Data is collected as following:
Annex I (annual data) –goods transport,
Annex II (annual data)–passenger transport,
Annex III – (quarterly data) goods and passengers,
Annex IV and V( data every five years) regional statistics on goods and passengers and rail network, and
Annex VIII (annual data) goods and passengers transport for small undertakings.
ANNEX VIII may be used by Member States as alternatives to the normal detailed reporting set out in ANNEXES I and II, for undertakings for which the total volume of goods or passenger transport is less than 200 million tonne-km or 500 000 tonnes or less than 100 million passenger-km. ANNEX VIII was transmitted for reference years 2017 and 2018.
The codes of regions used in the region-to-region statistics are indicated in Regulation (EC) 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
The NUTS 2 classification which is in force at the time when data collection takes place is used.
Regions of loading/embarkation/unloading/disembarkation should be coded according to NUTS.
classification for countries covered by NUTS Regulation and to ISO-3166 alpha-2 for the rest (e.g. for regions outside EU). The level of detail is NUTS2 (basic regions, 4-digits).
The classification of dangerous goods is defined in the regulations concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by rail, usually known as the RID, as adopted under Council Directive 96/49/EC of 23 July 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail and subsequent amendments (OJ L 235, 17 September 1996, p. 25. of Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 2001/6/EC (OJ L 30, 1 February 2001, p. 42).
3.3. Coverage - sector
Railway undertakings providing transport of passengers or goods on the railway network of the Republic of Croatia and infrastructure manager for train kilometres.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The main concepts used in rail domain are:
Rail passenger means any person, excluding members of the train crew, who makes a trip by rail. For accident statistics, passengers trying to embark/disembark onto/from a moving train are included.
Passenger-km means the unit of measure representing the transport of one passenger by rail over a distance of one kilometer. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Weight means the quantity of goods in tonnestones (1 000 kilograms). The weight to be taken into consideration includes, in addition to the weight of the goods transported, the weight of packaging and the tare weight of containers, swap bodies, pallets as well as road vehicles transported by rail in the course of combined transport operations. If the goods are transported using the services of more than one railway undertaking, when possible the weight of goods shall not be counted more than once.
Tonne-km means the unit of measure of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne (1 000 kilograms) of goods by rail over a distance of one kilometer. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Train means one or more railway vehicles hauled by one or more locomotives or railcars, or one railcar travelling alone, running under a given number or specific designation from an initial fixed point to a terminal fixed point. A light engine, that is to say, a locomotive travelling on its own, is not considered to be a train.
Train-km means the unit of measure representing the movement of a train over one kilometre. The distance used is the distance actually run, if available, otherwise the standard network distance between the origin and destination shall be used. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
3.5. Statistical unit
Statistical units for rail transport statistics are all railway operators.
3.6. Statistical population
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings operating at national territory within thresholds mentioned in the rail Regulation EU 2018/643. Data on traffic are collected from infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.
3.7. Reference area
Operational railway network on national territory.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data on passengers and goods are covered from 2004 onwards.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The volume and performance of rail freight traffic are measured in tonnes (mass) and tonne-kilometres. Passenger transport by rail is measured in the number of passengers and in passenger-kilometres. Information on the number of train kilometres is also available. Traffic flows on the rail network are measured in number of trains - passenger, freight and others (optional).
The tables consist mostly of annual data. There are some tables providing quarterly and quinquennial (every five years) data.
According to the Rail Regulation EU 2018/643 data is collected as following: Annual data;
Annex I –goods transport collected for a reference period of one year with a deadline for data transmission as 5 months after the reference period
Annex II –passenger transport, yearly data with eight months deadline after the end of reference period
Annex III – quarterly data for goods and passengers with a deadline of three months after the end of the reference period,
Annex IV and V data every five years on regional statistics on goods and passengers and rail network with deadline of 12 respectively 18 months after the end of reference period and
Annex VIII goods and passengers transport for small undertakings with 5 respectively 8 months deadline after the end of reference period.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
National level:
Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia;
Official Statistics Act (Official Gazette, No. 25/20);
Programme of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia.
Regulation EU 2018/643 of the European Parliament and the Council of 18 April 2018 on the railway transport statistics (recast).
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
National level:
Official Statistics Act (Official Gazette, No. 25/20);
Ordinance on the access to confidential statistical data;
Ordinance on Conditions and Terms of Using Confidential Statistical Data for Scientific Purposes.
European level:
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
All railway operators gave the permission for data dissemination.
8.1. Release calendar
Release calendar contains the review of publications planned to be issued in current year and by the end of May for next year, which depends on when the processing of a particular statistical survey can be finished and on whether it is feasible to make a particular kind of publication or not. Data on rail transport statistics is published quarterly 45 days after the reference quarter in the form of a first release.
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Croatian Bureau of Statistics disseminates statistics on rail transport respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. Main results of rail transport statistics are available free of charge to all users. At the release data on rail transport statistics is available to all users at the same time.
Rail transport statistics first results are published quarterly 45 days after the reference quarter and annual publication of detailed data 8 months after the end of the reference year.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
The First Release "Transport" - quarterly data.
Aggregated data on the level of the Republic of Croatia on the total passengers carried and passenger - kilometres (total, national, international transport), total tonnes carried and tonne kilometres (total, national transport, international loading and international – unloading and transit) and out of total goods transport – transport of dangerous goods.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The First Release "Transport" - quarterly data.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Data are not published in online databases.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Statistics in Line – quarterly data on rail transport at the level of the Republic of Croatia, annual data at the county level and towns/municipalities level. Annual detailed data on passenger transport by type of transport, country of embarkation and disembarkation, goods transport by type of transport, type of goods, type of dangerous goods, by country of loading and unloading, intermodal transport units. Annual data on railway lines, railway vehicles, operations of railway vehicles, traffic accidents and employment.
Statistical information – annual data on rail passenger and freight transport.
Croatia in figures – annual data on rail passenger and freight transport.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Publications with corresponding methodological explanations available at this website, which is prepared for the data collection at national level.
There is also countries' dedicated section in the Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics (Part IV National Methodologies) available.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The data on quality are stored in the CBS database of quality information (DBQI).
11.1. Quality assurance
The main tool for the systematic quality assessment and quality management is the CBS database on quality information (DBQI). The DBQI has in first stage the Basic analytical tool for comparative analyses of quality indicators and later will contain Advanced analytical tool for comparative analyses of quality indicators.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
An organisational structure and tools are in place to deal with quality. There are procedures in place to plan, monitor and improve the quality of the statistical processes. Procedures based on quality reporting are in place to internally monitor product quality. Results are analysed regularly and improving actions are undertaken, if needed (for example after obtaining annual summary results and mirror checks reports from Eurostat). There is a regular and thorough review of the key statistical outputs.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The key users of rail transport statistics are National Accounts Department, Eurostat, DG MOVE, State institutions, enterprises, research and scientific community, journalists etc.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No survey on user needs has been conducted.
12.3. Completeness
The data collection on rail transport statistics follows the provisions of the Regulation EU 2018/643 All variables in all datasets are provided including the optional variables.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall accuracy of the rail transport statistics data is good. The processing with implemented logical and computational control, plausibility checks as well as checks done before transmitting data to Eurostat provides a high accuracy of the data.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable for rail transport data collection.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable for rail transport data collection.
14.1. Timeliness
All the statistics required by the provisions of the Regulation EU 2018/643 are transmitted to Eurostat in deadlines prescribed by Regulation.
ANNEX I: 5 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX II: 8 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX III: 3 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX IV: 12 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX V: 18 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX VIII: 5 months after the end of the reference period for Table L1 and 8 months after the end of the reference period for Table L2.
Difficulties to respect deadline for data transmission:
It is feasible to deliver datasets within required deadlines.
14.2. Punctuality
All rail datasets are transmitted to Eurostat within deadlines specified in the Regulation EU 2018/643.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The geographical comparability of HR data with other member states is very good.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Length of comparable time series of 1993 onwards for top aggregated level of data, but all datasets have been provided to Eurostat from 2008 reference year. Since 2016, data on railway transport of goods related to the operation of all railway carriers on the railway network of the Republic of Croatia.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The concept of rail freight and passenger transport statistics is based on a high degree of comparability to other modes of transport. This facilitates cross-modal analysis (e.g. modal split).
15.4. Coherence - internal
When comparing Croatian rail passenger transport statistics data published by Eurostat with the results of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, it has to be considered, that national published passenger data includes transit transport.
The response burden is put on rail operators. Data are delivered via e-mail and reporting units are contacted only to clarify the errors that cannot be solved by the CBS.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Provisional figures are published for rail passenger transport. Revisions are carried five months after the end of the year.
Deadline for the publication of first quarterly results of passenger and freight transport is 45 days after the end of the quarter.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Planned revisions of rail passenger transport are carried five months after the end of the year. Unplanned revisions are caused by events that could not be predicted and that are impossible to prevent (subsequent changes in data sources or subsequently identified errors in previously submitted data) are generally disseminated as soon as possible.
18.1. Source data
Data on the railway infrastructure, transport equipment and transport of passengers and goods refer to the activity of legal entities engaged in the railway transport of passengers and goods and registered in the Statistical Business Register of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Source of data on the railway transport of passengers is railway passenger carrier. Data on railway transport of goods is related to the operation of all railway carriers on the railway network of the Republic of Croatia. Data on the railway infrastructure and transport equipment is an infrastructure manager.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data are collected quarterly, annually and quinquennial.
18.3. Data collection
Data are transmitted to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics in electronic form following the agreed data structure and format and also in Excel tables.
18.4. Data validation
In statistical data processing, the CBS implements control of the data coverage for the purpose of checking the completeness of the submitted data. Logical-computational controls, data consistency between data sets and controls of used codes are checked at the lowest level of received data.
18.5. Data compilation
After data processing and control checks, the data received from the rail carriers are compiled into quarterly and annual data following the structure of the data sets which are preset by Regulation EU 2018/643.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable for rail transport data collection.
No comment.
The statistics are compiled and transmitted quarterly to Eurostat.
Mandatory data collection at EU level is based on legal act, the Regulation EU 2018/643 and covers goods and passengers. Data is collected as following:
Annex I (annual data) –goods transport,
Annex II (annual data)–passenger transport,
Annex III – (quarterly data) goods and passengers,
Annex IV and V( data every five years) regional statistics on goods and passengers and rail network, and
Annex VIII (annual data) goods and passengers transport for small undertakings.
ANNEX VIII may be used by Member States as alternatives to the normal detailed reporting set out in ANNEXES I and II, for undertakings for which the total volume of goods or passenger transport is less than 200 million tonne-km or 500 000 tonnes or less than 100 million passenger-km. ANNEX VIII was transmitted for reference years 2017 and 2018.
28 September 2022
The main concepts used in rail domain are:
Rail passenger means any person, excluding members of the train crew, who makes a trip by rail. For accident statistics, passengers trying to embark/disembark onto/from a moving train are included.
Passenger-km means the unit of measure representing the transport of one passenger by rail over a distance of one kilometer. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Weight means the quantity of goods in tonnestones (1 000 kilograms). The weight to be taken into consideration includes, in addition to the weight of the goods transported, the weight of packaging and the tare weight of containers, swap bodies, pallets as well as road vehicles transported by rail in the course of combined transport operations. If the goods are transported using the services of more than one railway undertaking, when possible the weight of goods shall not be counted more than once.
Tonne-km means the unit of measure of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne (1 000 kilograms) of goods by rail over a distance of one kilometer. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Train means one or more railway vehicles hauled by one or more locomotives or railcars, or one railcar travelling alone, running under a given number or specific designation from an initial fixed point to a terminal fixed point. A light engine, that is to say, a locomotive travelling on its own, is not considered to be a train.
Train-km means the unit of measure representing the movement of a train over one kilometre. The distance used is the distance actually run, if available, otherwise the standard network distance between the origin and destination shall be used. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Statistical units for rail transport statistics are all railway operators.
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings operating at national territory within thresholds mentioned in the rail Regulation EU 2018/643. Data on traffic are collected from infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.
Operational railway network on national territory.
The tables consist mostly of annual data. There are some tables providing quarterly and quinquennial (every five years) data.
According to the Rail Regulation EU 2018/643 data is collected as following: Annual data;
Annex I –goods transport collected for a reference period of one year with a deadline for data transmission as 5 months after the reference period
Annex II –passenger transport, yearly data with eight months deadline after the end of reference period
Annex III – quarterly data for goods and passengers with a deadline of three months after the end of the reference period,
Annex IV and V data every five years on regional statistics on goods and passengers and rail network with deadline of 12 respectively 18 months after the end of reference period and
Annex VIII goods and passengers transport for small undertakings with 5 respectively 8 months deadline after the end of reference period.
Overall accuracy of the rail transport statistics data is good. The processing with implemented logical and computational control, plausibility checks as well as checks done before transmitting data to Eurostat provides a high accuracy of the data.
The volume and performance of rail freight traffic are measured in tonnes (mass) and tonne-kilometres. Passenger transport by rail is measured in the number of passengers and in passenger-kilometres. Information on the number of train kilometres is also available. Traffic flows on the rail network are measured in number of trains - passenger, freight and others (optional).
After data processing and control checks, the data received from the rail carriers are compiled into quarterly and annual data following the structure of the data sets which are preset by Regulation EU 2018/643.
Data on the railway infrastructure, transport equipment and transport of passengers and goods refer to the activity of legal entities engaged in the railway transport of passengers and goods and registered in the Statistical Business Register of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Source of data on the railway transport of passengers is railway passenger carrier. Data on railway transport of goods is related to the operation of all railway carriers on the railway network of the Republic of Croatia. Data on the railway infrastructure and transport equipment is an infrastructure manager.
Rail transport statistics first results are published quarterly 45 days after the reference quarter and annual publication of detailed data 8 months after the end of the reference year.
All the statistics required by the provisions of the Regulation EU 2018/643 are transmitted to Eurostat in deadlines prescribed by Regulation.
ANNEX I: 5 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX II: 8 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX III: 3 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX IV: 12 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX V: 18 months after the end of the reference period.
ANNEX VIII: 5 months after the end of the reference period for Table L1 and 8 months after the end of the reference period for Table L2.
Difficulties to respect deadline for data transmission:
It is feasible to deliver datasets within required deadlines.
The geographical comparability of HR data with other member states is very good.
Length of comparable time series of 1993 onwards for top aggregated level of data, but all datasets have been provided to Eurostat from 2008 reference year. Since 2016, data on railway transport of goods related to the operation of all railway carriers on the railway network of the Republic of Croatia.
