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.
Transport, Post and Telecommunication Statistics Unit - Structural Business Statistics Directorate - Economic Statistics Directorate General
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
16 Libertatii Bvd., Bucharest 5, ROMANIA
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
10 May 2023
2.2. Metadata last posted
8 July 2022
2.3. Metadata last update
7 August 2025
3.1. Data description
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.
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.
Classification of dangerous goods follows Part I of Annex I of Council Directive 96/49/EC and the regulation concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by rail, usually known as the RID.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Railway undertakings providing transport of passengers and/or goods.
Main undertakings to be included are defined as:
a) having a total volume of goods transport of at least 200 000 000 tonne-km or at least 500 000 tonnes;
b) a total volume of passenger transport of at least 100 000 000 passenger-km.
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 unit for rail transport statistics is the railway undertaking.
3.6. Statistical population
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings with licences for the performance of rail passenger and/or freight services on 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 onwards.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The volume and performance of rail freight traffic are measured in tonnes 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 periodreference 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
Order of the President of the National Institute of Statistics of Romania setting the methodology for the production of goods and passengers rail transport statistics.
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics;
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Only aggregated data are disseminated in NIS publications and in on-line databases.
8.1. Release calendar
Data is disseminated in quarterly publications on NIS website.
Annual data is disseminated in TEMPO online NIS database.
8.2. Release calendar access
The Statistical publications calendar is available on NIS website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Data is available to all users in electronic format.
Data on passengers and goods is transmitted to Eurostat according to the legislation.
At national level,data is disseminated quarterly/yearly, at ninety days after the end of the reference period in NIS publication 'Transport of goods and passengers, by mode of transport'.
Annual data is disseminated in TEMPO online database at five months after the end of the reference year.
'Romanian Statistical Yearbook'; 'Monthly Statistical Bulletin'; other NIS publications.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Annual data is disseminated in TEMPO online NIS database.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Metadata are available on NIS website.
Methodological information is included in NIS quarterly publications and in TEMPO online database tables.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Annual Quality Reports are produced. Documentation on quality management is available on the INS website:Quality reports.
11.1. Quality assurance
Data quality is ensured by following the guidelines specified in the European Statistics Code of Practice.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The data quality is good.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics produced are in accordance with the legislation in force and the methodology recommended by Eurostat. At national level, statistical data is used by Romanian public authorities, i.e. Ministries, Agencies, researchers, other users.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
A user satisfaction survey carried out by NIS every three years. The most recent one was in 2021. The publication can be found at the following INSSE website.
This publication presents how the statistical data produced and the methodological information of the NIS meet to the information needs of different categories of users. It includes a presentation of the main results of the statistical survey on "Statistical data user satisfaction", respectively the profile of users of statistical data produced by the NIS, trust in the NIS and the statistical data produced by the NIS, the quality assessment of the data produced by the NIS.
12.3. Completeness
The statistics produced are compliant with the legislation in force and Eurostat's Reference manual on Rail transport statistics.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The overall accuracy of the statistics produced is good.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Data is compiled and submitted to Eurostat in accordance with legal provisions.
At national level, data is disseminated at ninety days after the end of the reference quarter.
14.2. Punctuality
Data is disseminated without delays.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Since 2004 reference year up to now.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Not applicable.
The information on costs is available in the National Annual Statistical Programme.
Raw statistical data is collected through quarterly exhaustive statistical surveys carried out by NIS.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The data collection is performed every quarter.
18.3. Data collection
Data on goods is collected from railway undertakings using the reporting in eSOP - NIS Web Portal for online data collection/Excel questionnaire.
Data on passenger transport filled-in the Word questionnaires are transmitted via email.
18.4. Data validation
The quarterly data are processed and validated at NIS Transport, Post and Telecommunications Unit, in order to compile rail transport statistics.
18.5. Data compilation
Not applicable.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
No comments.
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.
7 August 2025
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 unit for rail transport statistics is the railway undertaking.
Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings with licences for the performance of rail passenger and/or freight services on 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: 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 periodreference 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.
The overall accuracy of the statistics produced is good.
The volume and performance of rail freight traffic are measured in tonnes 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).
Not applicable.
Raw statistical data is collected through quarterly exhaustive statistical surveys carried out by NIS.
Data on passengers and goods is transmitted to Eurostat according to the legislation.
At national level,data is disseminated quarterly/yearly, at ninety days after the end of the reference period in NIS publication 'Transport of goods and passengers, by mode of transport'.
Annual data is disseminated in TEMPO online database at five months after the end of the reference year.
Data is compiled and submitted to Eurostat in accordance with legal provisions.
At national level, data is disseminated at ninety days after the end of the reference quarter.
