New Rules to Give Every Train Car a Unique ID and Update Railway Authority Procedures

EU Commission proposal for the Council decision on the third session of the Supervisory Authority (14 April 2026, Bern)

1. Background

• The Luxembourg Protocol (adopted 23 Feb 2007, entered into force 8 Mar 2024) is part of the Cape Town Convention.
• It creates a global system for registering and enforcing rights over railway rolling stock and for giving each vehicle a unique identification number (URVIS).
• The Supervisory Authority, set up under Article 17 of the Cape Town Convention and Article XII of the Protocol, meets every few years to update rules and statutes.

2. What will happen at the 3rd session (14 Apr 2026)

• Model Rules on Permanent Identification of Railway Rolling Stock – Revision 3
• The Authority will either:
• Note the new rules if they are already in force, or
• Postpone any action until the rules are officially adopted.
• If the rules are in force and match the unofficial version published by UNECE (link provided), the Authority will approve them.
• Statutes of the Supervisory Authority
• The Authority will adopt the proposed amendments that clarify the role of the Commission of Experts.
• Rules of Procedure of the Supervisory Authority
• The Authority will adopt the proposed changes, but with two adjustments:
• In Article 16(6)(c) the deadline is changed from “two weeks” to “10 weeks”.
• In Article 16(7) the phrase “or where so decided by the Supervisory Authority” is removed.

3. EU competence

• The EU is a contracting party to the Protocol and has exclusive competence over the items that can influence EU rail legislation (Directive (2021/…) on interoperability, Regulation (2019/773), Decision (2018/1614), etc.).
• The EU’s position is therefore taken on behalf of the Union at this meeting.

4. EU position to be adopted

• Model Rules – note or approve Revision 3 as described above.
• Statutes – support the amendments.
• Rules of Procedure – support the amendments with the two specified changes.

5. Legal basis

• Article 91 TFEU (rail transport) and Article 218(9) TFEU (positions on behalf of the Union).

The Commission’s proposal is to have the Council adopt this position, which will be presented to the Supervisory Authority at its 3rd session on 14 April 2026.