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.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E3: Transport and Energy Statistics.
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG.
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
No fax.
2.1. Metadata last certified
24 February 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
24 February 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
24 February 2026
3.1. Data description
The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and Eurostat have concluded an Administrative Agreement that includes, inter alia, the regular transmission and dissemination by Eurostat of ERA information related to the rail transport safety and to the interoperability of the rail system. Such information will meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) 643/2018 on rail statistics and respond to the requests of the European Parliament for new data. One of the requirements of the agreement is to publish data on lengths of lines/tracks equipped with the ERTMS (European Railway Traffic Management System).
Currently, one dataset is available, namely the Length of railway lines equipped with the railway traffic management system (rail_if_traff).
The data in this dataset comes from the databases and registers maintained by the European Union Agency for Railways. They are reported by Member States in accordance with applicable European legislation. Data in this table represent the length of lines equipped with ERTMS in the countries which have this equipment or which have available data.
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) brings together automatic train protection (the European Train Control System) and radio communication (the Global System for Mobile Communications - Railway).
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the standard European system for automatic train protection. It enables interoperability at European level (rather than only at national level, as with many national Train Protection Systems (TPS)) and supports high levels of safety, reliability, and performance. In this table, ETCS is described through two approaches for transmitting signalling information between track and train: track-based (ETCS level 1), where ETCS information is transmitted via trackside equipment (balises), and radio-signal (ETCS level 2), where ETCS information is transmitted via continuous radio communication between train and infrastructure. This data come from Register of Infrastructure (RINF) and are calculated by ERA and some Infrastructure Managers have conributed with data not yet recorded in RINF.
GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway) is the underlying telecom system that carries the radio-based transmission used for operational voice and data communications in ETCS level 2. In other words, within ERTMS, GSM-R acts as the communication bearer for ETCS level 2, where signalling information is exchanged by radio. These data come from RINF and the figures are calculated by Eurostat without contributions from Infastructure Managers.
The TEN-T policy states that ERTMS shall be deployed in full on the TEN-T railway network by 2030.
The data will be produced for each Member State and on the annual basis with the reference date of January 1 of previous year.
ERTMS/ETCS statistics are defined in Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union and in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/777 of 16 May 2019 on the common specifications for the register of railway infrastructure and repealing Implementing Decision 2014/880/EU. They are reported by the Member States to the Register of Infrastructure (RINF) maintained by the ERA.
ERTMS is designed to gradually replace the existing incompatible systems throughout Europe. This will bring considerable benefits to the railway sector as it will boost international freight and passenger transport. In addition, ERTMS is the arguably the most performant train control system in the world and brings significant advantages in terms of maintenance, costs savings, safety, reliability, punctuality and traffic capacity.
3.2. Classification system
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) has 2 components: the European Train Control System (ETCS) and the Global System for Mobile communications — Railways (GSM-R). Their specification is defined in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/777 of 16 May 2019 on the common specifications for the register of railway infrastructure.
The ETCS is implemented on three (3) levels:
Level 1 (track based level) involves continuous supervision of train movement while a non-continuous communication between train and trackside (normally by means of Euro-balises). Lineside signals are necessary and train detection is performed by the trackside equipment out of the scope of ERTMS.
Level 2 (radio signal) involves continuous supervision of train movement with continuous communication, which is provided by GSM-R, between both the train and trackside. Lineside signals are optional in this case, and train detection is performed by the trackside equipment out of the scope of ERTMS.
Level 3 (signal directly from train) is also a signaling system that provides continuous train supervision with continuous communication between the train and trackside. The main difference with level 2 is that the train location and integrity is managed within the scope of the ERTMS system, i.e. there is no need for lineside signals or train detection systems on the trackside other than Euro-balises. Train integrity is supervised by the train, i.e. the train supervises being complete and not having been accidentally split. It is yet only deployed for experimentation (februart 2026).
Length of tracks/lines equipped with ERTMS/ETCS refers to aggregated statistics available in the RINF. For each section of a railway line, a parameter is available for the description of the ETCS level available (levels 1-3). The aggregation is done for all levels of ETCS.
Number of vehicles equipped with ERTMS/ETCS refers to aggregated statistics available in the European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles (ERATV) and in the European Centralised Virtual Vehicle Register (ECVVR). The ETCS parameter is only available in the ERATV for each vehicle type, whereas the ECVVR contains statistics on the number of vehicles per each type. The statistics are compiled by matching the “vehicle type ID” characteristics.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Rail transport.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Not applicable.
3.5. Statistical unit
Length of tracks and railway lines in kilometers (km).
3.6. Statistical population
ERTMS/ETCS statistics - tracks and lines that are part of the railway system of each Member State, as covered by the application of the Interoperability Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/797).
3.7. Reference area
Member States of the European Union; EFTA states.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data collection started in 2016 with the legal deadline for the provision of data by 16 March 2019.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Microdata for individual sections of railway lines and for single authorized vehicle is collected with length in meters.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The data are retrieved from databases and registers maintained by ERA under the administrative agreement between Eurostat and European Agency for Railways.
The aggregated data are shared with the DG MOVE for the purpose of transport statistics reporting (e.g. statistical pocket book).
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
All data collected are reported under EU reporting obligations. No confidentiality policy is applicable.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
Data is released after consolidation and aggregation, typically in Februar/March of each year.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Annually.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not applicable.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Quality assured datasets are available free of charge through Eurostat’s dissemination database, under the theme Transport. Aggregated annual data at national level are available in the table Length of railway lines equipped with the railway traffic management system (source: ERA) (rail_if_traff).
For each area, the quality is assured at the level of entry into database/register, by the data validation officer. Regular checks are carried out to assure consistency and to identify possible data incoherence.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Internal and external quality assessment is carried out irregularly, with the aim of data quality assurance.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Key users are: the European Commission, Directorate-General Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE); the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); the International Transport Forum (ITF).
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
Dependent on the reporting of the competent national authority. In principle, the data shall be available for all EU member States as from 16 March 2019.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Common methodology is available, however accuracy of data could be impacted by human errors during parameters encoding.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
2 months after the reference period (calendar year).
14.2. Punctuality
The punctuality was so far accurate.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Geographical comparability is generally high. Common definitions and guidance for reporting process is available.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Comparability over time is generally high.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable, the datasets represent unique sets of data.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Not applicable.
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
All data disseminated consist of data already disseminated by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) in the Register of Infrastructure (RINF). The revision policy is therefore effectively the revision policy applied by ERA for RINF.
17.2. Data revision - practice
All data disseminated consist of data already disseminated by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) in the Register of Infrastructure (RINF). The revision practice is therefore effectively the revision practice applied by ERA for RINF - but with a revision periodicity corresponding to the Eurostat retrieval schedule. As the Eurostat retrieval dissemination schedule differs from that of ERA there is a certain time lag in the revisions and intermediate higher-frequency revisions are not reflected in the Eurostat data.
18.1. Source data
The Register of Infrastructure (RINF) managed by ERA is the common source for ETCS and GSM-R statistics.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
As per applicable legislation.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation is carried out by ERA for ETCS, with the possible contribution of Infrastructure Managers.
18.5. Data compilation
ERA compiles ETCS data, Eurostat compiles GSM-R data.
18.6. Adjustment
The length of the railway lines in RINF is not always equal to the official figures registered in ERA or Eurostat datasets, therefore is sometimes adjusted.
Not available.
The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and Eurostat have concluded an Administrative Agreement that includes, inter alia, the regular transmission and dissemination by Eurostat of ERA information related to the rail transport safety and to the interoperability of the rail system. Such information will meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) 643/2018 on rail statistics and respond to the requests of the European Parliament for new data. One of the requirements of the agreement is to publish data on lengths of lines/tracks equipped with the ERTMS (European Railway Traffic Management System).
Currently, one dataset is available, namely the Length of railway lines equipped with the railway traffic management system (rail_if_traff).
The data in this dataset comes from the databases and registers maintained by the European Union Agency for Railways. They are reported by Member States in accordance with applicable European legislation. Data in this table represent the length of lines equipped with ERTMS in the countries which have this equipment or which have available data.
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) brings together automatic train protection (the European Train Control System) and radio communication (the Global System for Mobile Communications - Railway).
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the standard European system for automatic train protection. It enables interoperability at European level (rather than only at national level, as with many national Train Protection Systems (TPS)) and supports high levels of safety, reliability, and performance. In this table, ETCS is described through two approaches for transmitting signalling information between track and train: track-based (ETCS level 1), where ETCS information is transmitted via trackside equipment (balises), and radio-signal (ETCS level 2), where ETCS information is transmitted via continuous radio communication between train and infrastructure. This data come from Register of Infrastructure (RINF) and are calculated by ERA and some Infrastructure Managers have conributed with data not yet recorded in RINF.
GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway) is the underlying telecom system that carries the radio-based transmission used for operational voice and data communications in ETCS level 2. In other words, within ERTMS, GSM-R acts as the communication bearer for ETCS level 2, where signalling information is exchanged by radio. These data come from RINF and the figures are calculated by Eurostat without contributions from Infastructure Managers.
The TEN-T policy states that ERTMS shall be deployed in full on the TEN-T railway network by 2030.
The data will be produced for each Member State and on the annual basis with the reference date of January 1 of previous year.
ERTMS/ETCS statistics are defined in Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union and in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/777 of 16 May 2019 on the common specifications for the register of railway infrastructure and repealing Implementing Decision 2014/880/EU. They are reported by the Member States to the Register of Infrastructure (RINF) maintained by the ERA.
ERTMS is designed to gradually replace the existing incompatible systems throughout Europe. This will bring considerable benefits to the railway sector as it will boost international freight and passenger transport. In addition, ERTMS is the arguably the most performant train control system in the world and brings significant advantages in terms of maintenance, costs savings, safety, reliability, punctuality and traffic capacity.
24 February 2026
Not applicable.
Length of tracks and railway lines in kilometers (km).
ERTMS/ETCS statistics - tracks and lines that are part of the railway system of each Member State, as covered by the application of the Interoperability Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/797).
Member States of the European Union; EFTA states.
Calendar year.
Common methodology is available, however accuracy of data could be impacted by human errors during parameters encoding.
Microdata for individual sections of railway lines and for single authorized vehicle is collected with length in meters.
ERA compiles ETCS data, Eurostat compiles GSM-R data.
The Register of Infrastructure (RINF) managed by ERA is the common source for ETCS and GSM-R statistics.
Annually.
2 months after the reference period (calendar year).
Geographical comparability is generally high. Common definitions and guidance for reporting process is available.
