TS EN 17343

TS EN 17343 is a vocabulary standard that assembles general terms and definitions used in railway applications. It provides a common technical language for rail networks and rail vehicles guided by track and wheels, including systems built with steel and/or other materials. The standard serves the broad railway field, covering both heavy rail and urban rail systems.

How the terminology is organised as a common technical base

The main value of this kind of standard is consistency: the same concept can be understood and used in the same way by manufacturers, operators, designers, and standards writers. In railway engineering, infrastructure, vehicles, operations, and signalling are closely related, but TS EN 17343 focuses on general technical terms rather than subsystem-specific language. It is intended as a reference set for future European Standards and for revising existing ones, which helps reduce ambiguity across documents and projects.

Clear boundaries of the scope

• Track construction and maintenance machines are outside the scope when they are not travelling on rails.
• Road-rail machines are outside the scope when they are not travelling on rails.
• Magnetic levitation transport networks and vehicles are outside the scope.
• Guided busways and guided buses are outside the scope.
• Non-public rail networks, such as mine rail systems, and rail systems for leisure, historical, and tourist purposes are outside the scope.

The standard also excludes terms and definitions related to control-command and signalling, operation, and geographical aspects. In other words, TS EN 17343 is not a full coverage document for every railway subject; it is the core set of general technical terms and definitions used across railway applications. That distinction helps keep specialised standards separate while maintaining a consistent vocabulary base.

From a general technical perspective, railway terminology supports communication across infrastructure, rolling stock, maintenance, operations, and system integration. A vocabulary standard like this does not set detailed design rules or performance requirements; instead, it provides the conceptual framework that later standards can build on when they need precise and shared wording.