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 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.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Railway undertakings providing transport of passengers or goods.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The main concepts used in the 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 the distance of one kilometre. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country is considered.
Weight means the quantity of goods in tonnes. The weight 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 during 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 the distance of one kilometre. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country is considered.
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, 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. If data on the distance travelled is unavailable, the standard network distance between the origin and destination is used. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country is considered.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical units for rail transport statistics are all railway undertakings operating on Norwegian territory.
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.
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.
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:
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
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
Policies for confidentiality are described on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.
The principal rule of the Statistics Act is that information shall under no circumstances be published in such a way that it may be traced back to the supplier of any data or to any other identifiable individual. In agreement with the rail undertakings, an exception has been made to this rule.
No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' notice is given in advance to the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.
The results are published quarterly within 3 months after the reference quarter and yearly about 5 months after the reference year.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No news releases.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Railway transport statistics and articles are published on our website https://www.ssb.no/en/
The system follows as far as possible the European Statistics Code of practice and Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System, more precisely Principle 4: Commitment to Quality: Quality policy is defined and made available to the public. An organisational structure and tools are in place to deal with quality management.
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 validation reports from Eurostat).
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Data quality can be assessed as high. There is a set of validation rules and quality checks put in place, which detect various types of issues. In case of any issues detected, the data providers are contacted to provide explanations or/and revise the data accordingly.
Annually, Eurostat provides a data quality report with a summary of the main findings affecting quality as well as showing the solution adopted and the materiality of the existing differences.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The key users of railway transport statistics are:
Ministry of Transport
Universities and research institutions
Users involved in the railway transport industry
Data on railway transportation provides an important basis for decision-making in politics, public and commercial businesses in the context of the development and promotion of transport projects.
Users demand for passenger transport data on the level of train stations, cannot be fulfilled as such information is not collected within the data collection. Also, this information is not available from the railway undertakings.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
There have not been carried out any user surveys on the railway transport statistics, but direct feedback from main users like the ministry of transport, universities or railway undertakings indicates a good level of satisfaction regarding data coverage and availability.
12.3. Completeness
Annual, quarterly and quinquennial statistics on goods and passenger transport are collected and reported according to Regulation 2018/643.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The questionnaires are reviewed thoroughly, and errors are rectified during this process. Some typical errors involve:
goods transport being reported in gross tonnes kilometres (including the weight of railcars) affecting goods transport in both Annex A and E. This was taken into consideration and net tonnes kilometres was estimated as of 2018.
difficulties identifying the type of goods which affects the table A2.
dangerous goods transport being reported in kilograms instead of tonnes. This have been relatively easy to check for and have not been affecting the statistics in the table A4.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable for the railway transport data collection.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Due to the relatively small population in railway transport statistics, missing reports from railway undertakings have a considerable impact on the resulting statistics. Therefore, data is prone to possible revisions. There is planned development of the data collection methods, questionnaires and implementation of data editing software, which will improve responsiveness and communication with the railway undertakings.
14.1. Timeliness
The annual questionnaires are sent out within 2 months after the reference period with a deadline of 3 months after the reference period. The quarterly questionnaires are sent out soon after the reference period with deadline 1 month after the reference period.
14.2. Punctuality
The annual statistics are published and reported to Eurostat 5 months after the reference period. The quarterly statistics are published and reported to Eurostat 3 months after the reference period.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Norway has a very specific railway infrastructure. Goods and passenger transport are differently weighted in regions of Norway. A large amount of goods is transported on Ofotbanen from the Swedish border to Narvik port, while most of the passenger transport is centred around the capital, Oslo.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The railway statistics originates in 2003 and generally has good comparability over time.
As of 2011, the railway undertakings have filled out detailed information in the questionnaires which have complemented the railway statistics.
As of 2017, electronic passenger counting systems was implemented for reporting passenger numbers on the railways in Eastern Norway. This system generally improves the passenger transport data, although reports show lower passenger numbers than before 2017 and a break in the time series.
In 2019, several new railway undertakings entered the passenger transport market due to the government introducing a new competitive element in the railway sector. Public tenders covering specific train distances were made available to both national and international train companies for providing offers.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The rail statistics are used as input data in several statistics produced in Statistics Norway, for instance in the calculation of the quarterly national accounts and the annual calculation of the transport performance by mode of transport.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The statistics are internally coherent.
The railway undertakings have the response burden for the data required by the Rail regulation (EU) 2018/643.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Data revisions might be required when railway undertakings are non-responsive or late in their delivery.
17.2. Data revision - practice
After new data is received, tables are updated. A footnote is added explaining which variables are affected and when the numbers were updated.
18.1. Source data
The railway transport data are derived from the railway undertakings in the form of a questionnaire.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Quarterly and annually.
18.3. Data collection
The data is collected through questionnaires.
18.4. Data validation
The data from each railway undertaking is controlled for large variations from previous deliveries. If large variations are detected, the railway undertaking is contacted and asked to check for errors and to send correct data where needed.
18.5. Data compilation
Data is compiled into annexes in the form requested by the Rail regulation (EU) 2018/643.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable for the railway transport data collection.
Not applicable.
Mandatory data collection at EU level is based on a legal act, the Regulation (EU) 2018/643 which covers goods and passengers.
Data is collected as follows:
Annual statistics on goods transport — detailed reporting (ANNEX A/ANNEX I)
Annual statistics on passenger transport — detailed reporting (ANNEX C/ANNEX II)
Quarterly statistics on goods and passenger transport (ANNEX E/ANNEX III)
Quinquennial regional statistics on goods and passenger transport (ANNEX F/ANNEX IV)
Quinquennial statistics on traffic flows on the rail network (ANNEX G/ANNEX V)
Level of transport activity in goods and passengers transport (ANNEX L/ANNEX VIII)
20 October 2023
The main concepts used in the 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 the distance of one kilometre. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country is considered.
Weight means the quantity of goods in tonnes. The weight 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 during 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 the distance of one kilometre. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country is considered.
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, 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. If data on the distance travelled is unavailable, the standard network distance between the origin and destination is used. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country is considered.
The statistical units for rail transport statistics are all railway undertakings operating on Norwegian territory.
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings operating at national territory within thresholds mentioned in the rail regulation.
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:
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
Annex VIII – goods and passengers transport for small undertakings with 5 respectively 8 months deadline after the end of reference period
The questionnaires are reviewed thoroughly, and errors are rectified during this process. Some typical errors involve:
goods transport being reported in gross tonnes kilometres (including the weight of railcars) affecting goods transport in both Annex A and E. This was taken into consideration and net tonnes kilometres was estimated as of 2018.
difficulties identifying the type of goods which affects the table A2.
dangerous goods transport being reported in kilograms instead of tonnes. This have been relatively easy to check for and have not been affecting the statistics in the table A4.
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)
Data is compiled into annexes in the form requested by the Rail regulation (EU) 2018/643.
The railway transport data are derived from the railway undertakings in the form of a questionnaire.
The results are published quarterly within 3 months after the reference quarter and yearly about 5 months after the reference year.
The annual questionnaires are sent out within 2 months after the reference period with a deadline of 3 months after the reference period. The quarterly questionnaires are sent out soon after the reference period with deadline 1 month after the reference period.
Norway has a very specific railway infrastructure. Goods and passenger transport are differently weighted in regions of Norway. A large amount of goods is transported on Ofotbanen from the Swedish border to Narvik port, while most of the passenger transport is centred around the capital, Oslo.
The railway statistics originates in 2003 and generally has good comparability over time.
As of 2011, the railway undertakings have filled out detailed information in the questionnaires which have complemented the railway statistics.
As of 2017, electronic passenger counting systems was implemented for reporting passenger numbers on the railways in Eastern Norway. This system generally improves the passenger transport data, although reports show lower passenger numbers than before 2017 and a break in the time series.
In 2019, several new railway undertakings entered the passenger transport market due to the government introducing a new competitive element in the railway sector. Public tenders covering specific train distances were made available to both national and international train companies for providing offers.
