Glossary
Railway glossary — 50 terms explained
A plain-English reference for the vocabulary you'll run into on departure boards, ticket conditions, and train schedules worldwide — from GTFS and rake to Tatkal and track gauge.
Rolling Stock
- Consist
- The complete physical formation of a train — locomotive plus carriages, in the order they appear.
- EMU
- Electric Multiple Unit. A self-propelled passenger train powered from overhead wire or third rail.
- DMU
- Diesel Multiple Unit. The diesel equivalent, common on UK regional and US commuter routes.
- Loco
- Short for locomotive — the power car at one or both ends of the train.
- Rake
- British and Indian term for a complete set of carriages.
- Rolling stock
- General term for all railway vehicles — locomotives, carriages, and multiple units — as distinct from fixed infrastructure.
High-Speed
- IC
- Intercity — branded fast service stopping at major cities only.
- ICE
- InterCityExpress, Deutsche Bahn's flagship high-speed brand.
- TGV
- Train à Grande Vitesse, French high-speed network.
- Frecciarossa
- Trenitalia's 300+ km/h ETR1000 high-speed flagship.
- Shinkansen
- Japan's high-speed bullet train network, opened 1964.
- KTX
- Korea Train eXpress, South Korea's high-speed network.
- HSR
- High Speed Rail — typically defined as 250+ km/h on dedicated track.
Fares & Booking
- PNR
- Passenger Name Record. Your unique reservation reference, printed on every ticket.
- Reservation
- A guaranteed seat or berth, separate from the ticket itself in many European systems.
- Walk-up fare
- The full unrestricted fare available at the station up to departure — usually the most expensive.
- Advance fare
- A discounted non-refundable fare bought 1–6 months ahead.
- Sparpreis
- Deutsche Bahn's cheapest advance ticket category.
- Saver
- Renfe (Spain) discounted fare with limited availability.
- Prem's
- SNCF (France) earliest-bird non-refundable ticket.
- Quota
- Seats reserved for specific passenger groups on Indian Railways (Ladies, Senior, Tatkal, etc.).
- Tatkal
- Indian Railways same-day quota released 24h before departure at 10:00 IST.
- Through ticket
- A single ticket covering a journey across multiple operators.
- Inter-available
- A ticket valid on any operator running between two cities.
- Season ticket
- An unlimited-travel pass for a fixed route or zone over a set period — weekly, monthly, or annual — aimed at commuters.
- Rail pass
- A single product covering unlimited or flexible travel across many operators or an entire country/region, aimed at travellers rather than commuters — see /rail-passes for a full comparison.
Onboard
- Couchette
- European 4- or 6-berth sleeping compartment with basic bedding.
- Wagon-lit
- Traditional sleeper carriage with proper beds and en-suite or shared wash facilities.
- Bay of four
- A four-seat seating cluster facing each other across a shared table.
- Forward facing
- Seat oriented in the direction of travel.
- Quiet coach
- Carriage with phone calls and amplified audio prohibited.
- Overnight/sleeper train
- A train scheduled to run through the night with berths for sleeping, letting passengers cover long distances without losing a travel day.
Operations
- GTFS
- General Transit Feed Specification. The open standard for sharing public transport schedules.
- GTFS-RT
- The realtime extension of GTFS, used to push live vehicle positions and delay updates.
- DOO
- Driver Only Operation — no guard or conductor on board.
- OBS
- On-Board Services or staff.
- Signal failure
- Failure of trackside signalling causing trains to be held.
- Engineering work
- Planned maintenance closure of part of the network.
- Replacement bus
- Road coach substituting for a cancelled train segment.
- Portion working
- One train splitting into multiple destinations partway through the journey.
- Dwell time
- How long a train stays stopped at a station before departing again.
- Headway
- The time gap between successive trains on the same line — a shorter headway means a more frequent service.
- Interlining
- A single train service continuing across a border or operator boundary without passengers changing trains.
Infrastructure
- Catenary
- The overhead electrification wires above the track.
- Pantograph
- The folding arm on the train roof that draws power from the catenary.
- Track gauge
- Distance between rails. Standard gauge is 1,435 mm. India and Pakistan use 1,676 mm broad gauge.
- Concourse
- The main passenger hall of a station, in front of the platforms.
- Platform number
- The boarding point at a station — confirm on the departure board, as it can change close to departure.
- Broad gauge
- Any track gauge wider than standard (1,435 mm) — 1,676 mm in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Argentina.
- Narrow gauge
- Any track gauge narrower than standard, commonly 1,000 mm or 1,067 mm — used across parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Japan's older lines.