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.
GUS (Główny Urząd Statystyczny) - Statistics Poland
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Statistics Centre for Transport and Communication
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Urząd Statystyczny w Szczecinie
ul. Jana Matejki 22
70-530 Szczecin, Poland
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
3 June 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
3 June 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
3 June 2024
3.1. Data description
Data collection at EU level is based on the legal act Regulation EU 2018/643 and covers goods and passenger transport by rail. The statistics are set out in 6 annexes (datasets):
Annex I (A) - annual statistics on goods transport,
Annex II (C) - annual statistics on passenger transport,
Annex III (E) - quarterly statistics on goods and passenger transport,
Annex IV (F) - quinquennial regional statistics on goods and passenger transport,
Annex V (G) - quinquennial regional statistics on traffic flows on the rail network,
Annex VIII (L) - level activity in goods and passenger transport (annual; it covers simplified statistics on transport 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).
Data in the annexes are broken down by different categories, e.g. in annex A: by type of transport (total, national, international - total, outgoing, incoming, transit), by type of goods, by category of dangerous goods, etc. See for details: part 1 of the Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics
Data on passenger or goods transport cover national and international transport performed by Polish railway undertakings.
3.2. Classification system
Statistics on goods transport by railway apply the following statistical classifications:
for the type of goods
until reference year 2007 (including), 24 groups of goods defined by NST/R according to the Regulation (EC) No. 91/2003;
The NUTS2 classification which is in force at the time when data collection takes place is used, and ISO-3166 alpha-2 for the rest countries (e.g. for the countries/regions outside EAA). In regional statistics, if NUTS2 region is unknown, ISO-3166 alpha-2 code followed by XX is used. If the place is completely unknown (i.e. unknown country), the code XXXX is used.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Railway sector:
rail infrastructure managers
entities of the national economy or national bodies responsible, in particular, for establishing, managing and maintaining railway infrastructure, including traffic management and control-command and signalling. The entities managing solely sidings are excluded;
railway undertakings providing transport of passengers or goods
entities of the national economy licensed to transport by the Polish Office of Rail Transport. Included are all transport operators that dispose of/provide traction. Excluded are railway transport operators which operate entirely or mainly within industrial and similar installations, including harbours, and railway transport operators which mainly provide local tourist services, such as preserved historical steam railways. Undertakings whose only business is to provide services for the transport of passengers by metro, tram and/or light rail are excluded;
integrated companies
railway undertakings also being rail infrastructure managers.
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 kilometre. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Weight (gross-gross) means the weight of goods in tonnes (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.
Tonne-km means the unit of measurement of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne (1 000 kilograms) of goods by rail over a distance of one kilometre. 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 is taken into account.
The reporting units for railway transport statistics are the entities:
licensed to transport by rail or share traction vehicles,
managing railway infrastructure,
disposing of/providing traction.
3.6. Statistical population
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings being the entities of the national economy, operating in the national territory. Data from the undertakings operating in the Polish territory but being foreign railway companies (not registered in Poland) are not collected. Data on infrastructure and traffic are collected from infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.
Annex L is used as an alternative to the normal detailed reporting set out in Annexes A and C, for undertakings for which:
the total volume of goods is at least 200,000,000 tonne-km or at least 500,000 tonnes,
the total volume of passengers is at least 100,000,000 passenger-km.
3.7. Reference area
Operational railway network on the national territory.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data on passengers and goods transport by rail are covered from 2004 onwards.
All data sets are available since 2004.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
There are the following units of measure:
tonnes - for the weight of goods,
thousand tonne-km - for the performance of rail goods transport on the national territory,
number of passengers - for the movements of passengers using railway vehicles between the place of embarkation and the place of disembarkation (in other words, for the number of trips),
thousand passenger-km - for the performance of rail passenger transport on the national territory,
thousand train-km - for the train (passenger, goods and other (optional) trains) movements on the national territory,
number of trains - for train (passenger, goods and other (optional) trains) traffic flows on the national rail network.
The reference period is a year for the data covered by:
Annex I (A),
Annex II (C),
Annex IV (F),
Annex V (G),
Annex VIII (L),
or a quarter for the data covered by:
Annex III (E).
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
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.
Railway transport statistics are available free of charge to users. However, more detailed information or other layouts, in compliance with confidentiality rules, can be made for a fee. The policy provides for the disseminaton of statistical data to all users at the same time. The users are informed about the release dates in the Statistical Survey Programs of Official Statistics.
The rail data are available on the above-mentioned websites in pdf and xlsx format, for a wide range of years (see: Archive available on each of the websites).
There are national procedures applied for quality management, e.g. annual quality analysis (quality report; not available for the public).
11.1. Quality assurance
There are procedures in place to plan, monitor and improve the quality of the statistical processes.
To improve the quality, the data are collected via IT tool equipped with internal consistency and counting checks preventing from delivering inconsistent information within a questionnaire. The questionnaires include guidelines which are improved systematically if needed (on the basis of the feedback given by respondents). There are additional checks made by the CSO staff, the data providers are asked to explain or/and revise the figures if needed.
The datasets are systematically validated by Eurostat. Check results are analysed and the data are corrected if needed, or explanations are given in the country specific notes.
There are several rules that the CSO applies when conducting statistical surveys:
utility,
timeliness and punctuality,
accessibility and transparency,
comparability,
cohesion.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Data quality can be assessed as high.
However, in case of goods transport one should note that:
regarding dataset A: the reporting units (railway undertakings) count goods (incl. those transported via seaports) according to the place of origin or destination of goods (please note that it is not always the same as the place of loading onto and unloading from a railway vehicle as indicated on the consignment note on the basis of which an undertaking perform transport - see: Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics). The method was imposed on the railway undertakings by the Polish rail regulatory body and it is used in their statistics. The railway undertaking systems are adapted to the methodology and they use the same methodology when compiling data for annex A. On the basis of the figures and country of origin/destination provided by the undertakings, as well as information if and how much of these goods were transported via seaports, the CSO compiles dataset A, i.e. goods transport by land is presented as international income, outcome or transit (the last position also includes transit of goods transported via seaports), respectively, whereas goods imported or exported via seaports are included in national rail transport. Summarizing, the data in dataset A should be considered rather as estimated.
regarding dataset F: the reporting units (railway undertakings) count goods taking into account the place of loading onto and unloading from a railway vehicle as indicated on the consignment notes on the basis of which they perform transports (in agreement with Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics).
Regarding the inconsistency between the methodology of dataset A and the one presented in the Reference Manual, the CSO is going to standardise the dataset A collection in the coming years in accordance with the Reference Manual.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The purpose of the data collection is to provide information on the level and structure of transport services and on the transport potential for shaping economic policy as well as transport market analysis and research.
Data are collected for national and European strategies and programs, e.g.:
European Green Deal,
Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.
Users:
Eurostat and other foreign statistical institutions,
central government administration,
scientific/research bodies,
universities - students, academic teachers,
individual foreign recipients,
international organisations,
local government administration - voivodeships.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not applicable - opinions are not collected
12.3. Completeness
The data collection on rail transport statistics follows the provisions of the Regulation 2018/643. All variables in all data sets are provided.
However, in case of goods transport one should note that:
regarding dataset A: the reporting units (railway undertakings) count goods (incl. those transported via seaports) according to the place of origin or destination of goods (please note that it is not always the same as the place of loading onto and unloading from a railway vehicle as indicated on the consignment note on the basis of which an undertaking perform transport - see: Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics). The method was imposed on the railway undertakings by the Polish rail regulatory body and it is used in their statistics. The railway undertaking systems are adapted to the methodology and they use the same methodology when compiling data for annex A. On the basis of the figures and country of origin/destination provided by the undertakings, as well as information if and how much of these goods were transported via seaports, the CSO compiles dataset A, i.e. goods transport by land is presented as international income, outcome or transit (the last position also includes transit of goods transported via seaports), respectively, whereas goods imported or exported via seaports are included in national rain transport. Summarizing, the data in dataset A should be considered rather as estimated.
regarding dataset F: the reporting units (railway undertakings) count goods taking into account the place of loading onto and unloading from a railway vehicle as indicated on the consignment notes on the basis of which they perform transports (in agreement with Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics).
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall accuracy of the railway transport of passengers and goods statistics is good.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable
13.3. Non-sampling error
The population is composed of the entities of the national economy (rail sector). The undertakings offering rail transport services on the territory of Poland which are not registered in Poland, do not take part in the surveys. The CSO monitors their share in the Polish rail market taking into account the data available on the Polish Office of Rail Transport website. So far their share can be considered negligible (e.g. regarding passenger rail transport, it is less than 0.5%).
Within the population, the response rate can be assessed as high (close to 100%). The respondents hardly ever deliver incomplete questionnaires. If a variable is not delivered by a respondent, it is estimated on the basis of information available (other sources).
To reduce different types of errors, the following actions are undertaken:
IT tool consistency and counting checks are systematically analysed and improved,
guidelines are improved,
the data providers are contacted and asked for completion / explanation / corrections if needed.
14.1. Timeliness
Data are provided to Eurostat:
5 months after the end of a reference period for Annex I (A) and Annex VIII (L) table L1,
8 months after the end of a reference period for Annex II (C) and Annex VIII (L) table L2,
3 months after the end of a reference period for Annex III (E),
12 months after the end of a reference period for Annex IV (F),
18 months after the end of a reference period for Annex V (G).
14.2. Punctuality
Datasets are usually transmitted on time.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Some non-comparability in rail goods transport may follow from adopting a slightly different metodology than the one described in the Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics. See: point 11.2.
15.2. Comparability - over time
As from 2004 the statistics on the railway transport are comparable over time. Time series checks are regularly made to detect inconsistencies in the data. There were no time series breaks.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The data are compared with other sources for operational reasons. However, the analysis of coherence with other sources is not usually made.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Statistics are consistent within a given data set.
The average time of data collection by a respondent – 120 min.
The average time for completion of a questionnaire by a respondent – 30 min.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Respondents are asked to verify data on a regular basis during the survey or checks. If some errors are detected after the time of data publication, they are corrected in on-line databases (or in following publications - if possible) as soon as possible. Systematic data revisions are not made.
17.2. Data revision - practice
See: point 17.1.
18.1. Source data
Datasets are based on surveys (full). Administrative data sources are used additionally for population determination only (e.g. licensed rail transport undertakings)
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data is collected quarterly and annually.
18.3. Data collection
Reporting units submit data on-line via IT system - Reporting Portal. In exceptional cases other ways (email, postal service) of data delivery is acceptable (the data are transferred into the system by the CSO staff).
The questionnaires available in the IT system are improved and tested every year before the beginning of the survey. The on-line questionnaire is equipped with internal consistency and counting checks preventing from delivering inconsistent information within the questionnaire. The system authomatically generates notifications about deadlines, the notifications are delivered to respondents via email. The CSO staff monitors the progress of completing the questionnaires in the IT system. If there is no reply from a respondent despite of notifications, the CSO staff makes contact with them by phone.
18.4. Data validation
National level:
completeness control
consistency and counting checks in a dedicated system
Eurostat level:
Since 1999, micro-data from the reporting countries are submitted according to Commission Regulation 2018/643. The data are then checked and validated by EUROSTAT. Detected errors are then reported back to the data providers with the request for correction, this is an iterative process until at least 99.5% of all data records validated and loaded in the database.
18.5. Data compilation
The datasets are delivered to Eurostat after verification and aggregation.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable
No comment.
Data collection at EU level is based on the legal act Regulation EU 2018/643 and covers goods and passenger transport by rail. The statistics are set out in 6 annexes (datasets):
Annex I (A) - annual statistics on goods transport,
Annex II (C) - annual statistics on passenger transport,
Annex III (E) - quarterly statistics on goods and passenger transport,
Annex IV (F) - quinquennial regional statistics on goods and passenger transport,
Annex V (G) - quinquennial regional statistics on traffic flows on the rail network,
Annex VIII (L) - level activity in goods and passenger transport (annual; it covers simplified statistics on transport 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).
Data in the annexes are broken down by different categories, e.g. in annex A: by type of transport (total, national, international - total, outgoing, incoming, transit), by type of goods, by category of dangerous goods, etc. See for details: part 1 of the Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics
Data on passenger or goods transport cover national and international transport performed by Polish railway undertakings.
3 June 2024
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 kilometre. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Weight (gross-gross) means the weight of goods in tonnes (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.
Tonne-km means the unit of measurement of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne (1 000 kilograms) of goods by rail over a distance of one kilometre. 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 is taken into account.
The reporting units for railway transport statistics are the entities:
licensed to transport by rail or share traction vehicles,
managing railway infrastructure,
disposing of/providing traction.
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings being the entities of the national economy, operating in the national territory. Data from the undertakings operating in the Polish territory but being foreign railway companies (not registered in Poland) are not collected. Data on infrastructure and traffic are collected from infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.
Annex L is used as an alternative to the normal detailed reporting set out in Annexes A and C, for undertakings for which:
the total volume of goods is at least 200,000,000 tonne-km or at least 500,000 tonnes,
the total volume of passengers is at least 100,000,000 passenger-km.
Operational railway network on the national territory.
The reference period is a year for the data covered by:
Annex I (A),
Annex II (C),
Annex IV (F),
Annex V (G),
Annex VIII (L),
or a quarter for the data covered by:
Annex III (E).
Overall accuracy of the railway transport of passengers and goods statistics is good.
There are the following units of measure:
tonnes - for the weight of goods,
thousand tonne-km - for the performance of rail goods transport on the national territory,
number of passengers - for the movements of passengers using railway vehicles between the place of embarkation and the place of disembarkation (in other words, for the number of trips),
thousand passenger-km - for the performance of rail passenger transport on the national territory,
thousand train-km - for the train (passenger, goods and other (optional) trains) movements on the national territory,
number of trains - for train (passenger, goods and other (optional) trains) traffic flows on the national rail network.
The datasets are delivered to Eurostat after verification and aggregation.
Datasets are based on surveys (full). Administrative data sources are used additionally for population determination only (e.g. licensed rail transport undertakings)
5 months after the end of a reference period for Annex I (A) and Annex VIII (L) table L1,
8 months after the end of a reference period for Annex II (C) and Annex VIII (L) table L2,
3 months after the end of a reference period for Annex III (E),
12 months after the end of a reference period for Annex IV (F),
18 months after the end of a reference period for Annex V (G).
Some non-comparability in rail goods transport may follow from adopting a slightly different metodology than the one described in the Reference Manual on Rail Transport Statistics. See: point 11.2.
As from 2004 the statistics on the railway transport are comparable over time. Time series checks are regularly made to detect inconsistencies in the data. There were no time series breaks.
