UIC identification marking for tractive stock

Digit 1 is '9'

If digit 2 describes the type of tractive stock, the following coding is mandatory:[4]

The above codes have been altered from those shown in UIC 438-3 by ERA CR OPE TSI;[5] this table was updated on 22 January 2012 to include the most recent wording.

see List of UIC country codes

A register of tractive units has been introduced by the Federal Railway Office (Eisenbahnbundesamt, EBA), which also issues vehicle numbers. Digits 5–8 are a four-digit class number, 9–11 the three-digit serial number of the vehicle within its class.

For class numbers for vehicles in the existing Deutsche Bahn fleet, DB selected digits 5–8 so that the previous number could continue to be used without affecting the check digit: changing the check digit was needed only for combustion-engined railcars. For new DB vehicles, such as the Alstom Class 1214 introduced in 2008, this is not valid. Although they are internally counted as Class 262, they have been given a number corresponding to the class used by the manufacturer.

As a result of the requirement to be entered into the register, vehicles and classes were included that had never been part of the DB. These were allocated to new classes by the EBA, no longer based around DB historical classification. This has caused misunderstandings, because the classes are now generally made up of four-digit numbers (digits 5–8) that no longer indicate the type of vehicle, now shown by the type code (digits 1–2).

Example:

From the last three digits, class "0128" could appear to be an electric locomotive. However the full number includes the type code "98", so it is a diesel shunter. The three-digit numbers "3xy" or "2xy" previously used by DB are not part of the new numbers. They are obsolete, found only in the numbers of former state railway vehicles.

Vehicles that are used both by DB and private railways are allocated to the same class – the difference is recognisable from the owner's abbreviation. One advantage of the system is its simplicity, because when vehicles change ownership they retain the same number: only the abbreviation of the owner's name needs to be changed. For a major rebuild the number can be changed to that of an appropriate class.

See also List of classes in the German Railway Vehicle Register

In Italy document ANSF 04658/09[6] issued on 17-08-2009 by ANSF (Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza delle Ferrovie), who maintains the RIN (Registro Immatricolazione Nazionale). According to these rules, digits 5-11 are thus subdivided: Digit 5 is the vehicle type

The following 3 digits are the class number (the Italian word is 'Gruppo') while the digits 9–11 the three-digit serial number of the vehicle within its class.

The method of applying and spacing the digits differs between operators. For example a British Rail Class 66 loco registered in Britain has been seen to carry the number: GB 9 2 70 0 066246-4, with the existing national number "66246" underlined, and lacking the operator identifying code.[7] Frequently the commonly used national part of the number is underlined in order to make it more readily identifiable.