Editing Reporting mark

{{Short description|Alphabetic code ID used on the North American railroad network}}
[[File:Reporting marks.jpg|thumb|Reporting marks on two Canadian Pacific [[covered hopper]] cars; with the left car marked as [[Canadian Pacific Railway|CP]] 388686 and the right car marked as [[Soo Line Railroad|SOO]] 115239]]

A '''reporting mark''' is a code used to identify owners or lessees of [[rolling stock]] and other equipment used on certain [[rail transport]] networks.<!--is the term used anywhere other than N. America?-->  The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equipment, similar to [[IATA airline designators]].

In [[North America]], the mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by the railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers.<ref name="register">{{cite web |url=https://www.railinc.com/rportal/mark-register |title=Mark Register |publisher=[[Railinc Corporation|Railinc]] |access-date=2014-12-09 |archive-date=2014-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225170028/https://www.railinc.com/rportal/mark-register |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="trains">{{cite journal |title=Understanding railroad reporting marks |journal=Trains |date=May 1, 2006 |last=McGonigal |first=Robert S. |url=http://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/understanding-railroad-reporting-marks |access-date=2014-12-09 |archive-date=2014-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027061937/http://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/understanding-railroad-reporting-marks |url-status=live }}</ref>  In multinational registries, a code indicating the home country may also be included.

==Standard practices==

===North America===
[[File:Train-connections.jpg|thumb|A [[covered hopper]] with SHPX markings]]

The [[Association of American Railroads]] (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the [[Surface Transportation Board|U.S. Surface Transportation Board]], [[Canadian Transportation Agency|Transport Canada]], and Mexican Government. [[Railinc Corporation|Railinc]], a subsidiary of the AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry.

Under current practice<!--not historic practice - see MILW and ROCK for counterexamples-->, the first letter must match the initial letter of the railroad name. As it also acts as a [[Standard Carrier Alpha Code]], the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers.<ref name=register/><ref name=trains/>

Marks ending with the letter "X" are assigned to companies or [[Private railroad car|individuals]] who own railcars, but are not operating railroads;{{efn|"X" originally meant "express", as the first non-railroad car owners were express companies such as [[Adams_Express_Company#History|Adams Express]].}} for example, the [[TTX Company]] (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example, the reporting mark for [[Amtrak California|state-funded]] Amtrak services in [[California]] is CDTX (whereas the usual [[Amtrak]] mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ([[Caltrans]]) owns the equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example [[Metrolink (California)|Metrolink]] in [[Southern California]] uses the reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the [[Metrolink (California)|Southern California Regional Rail Authority]]—which owns the Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for [[CSX Transportation]], which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in [[Mexico]] were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR.

[[File:RTDX 4001 reporting mark sign seen from RTDX 4004 cab.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|A temporary window sign with [[Regional Transportation District|RTDX]] markings]]

Companies owning [[trailer (vehicle)|trailer]]s used in [[trailer-on-flatcar]] service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the [[National Motor Freight Traffic Association]], which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of [[intermodal container]]s.<ref name=register/><ref name=trains/> The standard [[ISO 6346]] covers identifiers for intermodal containers.

When the owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] (mark UP) acquired the [[Chicago and North Western Railway]] (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas.<ref name=trains/>  If the acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to [[Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway]], a predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of [[Conrail]], the long-retired marks of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR) and [[New York Central Railroad]] (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks.

==== List of North American reporting marks ====
Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on the first letter of the reporting mark:

{{Contents - AAR reporting marks|Explain=N}}

=== Europe since 2006 ===
[[File:BLS B Jumbo 628 30 Oct 2009.jpg|thumb|BLS coach registered in Switzerland (85 = CH)]]

A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier [[International Union of Railways|UIC]] numbering systems for [[UIC identification marking for tractive stock|tractive vehicles]] and [[UIC wagon numbers|wagons]], except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see {{section link||Europe 1964 to 2005}}) with a 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's [[UIC country code|register country]]. The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate '''Vehicle Keeper Marking''' (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the [[Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail]] (OTIF) and the [[European Union Agency for Railways]] (ERA)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.era.europa.eu/document-register/pages/list-vkm.aspx |title=ERA site where the monthly updated VKM list can be retrieved |access-date=2017-02-05 |archive-date=2015-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213091004/http://www.era.europa.eu/Document-Register/Pages/list-VKM.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa.

The VKM must be between two and five letters in length{{efn|There is a specific exemption to the length requirement for Belgian operator [[National Railway Company of Belgium|NMBS/SNCB]], allowing them to use as a VKM their corporate logo of a single letter ''B'' enclosed within a circle.}} and can use any of the 26 letters of the [[Latin alphabet]]. [[Diacritic|Diacritical marks]] may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, ''Ö'' is treated as though it is ''O'').<ref>{{CELEX|32012D0757|text=2012/757/: Commission Decision of 14 November 2012 concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the operation and traffic management subsystem of the rail system in the European Union and amending Decision 2007/756/EC (notified under document C(2012) 8075)}}</ref>

The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and a hyphen. Some examples:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Code !! Country !! Keeper
|-
| A-ÖBB || [[Austria|'''A'''ustria]] || '''Ö'''sterreichische '''B'''undes'''b'''ahnen
|-
| B-B || [[Belgium|'''B'''elgium]] || Société Nationale des Chemins de fer '''B'''elges
|-
| CH-SBB || [[Switzerland|'''C'''onfoederatio '''H'''elvetica]] (Switzerland) || '''S'''chweizer '''B'''undes'''b'''ahnen
|-
| D-DB || [[Germany|'''D'''eutschland]] (Germany)|| '''D'''eutsche '''B'''ahn AG
|-
| F-SNCF || [[France|'''F'''rance]] || '''S'''ociété '''n'''ationale des '''c'''hemins de fer '''f'''rançais
|-
| I-FS || [[Italy|'''I'''taly]] || '''F'''errovie dello '''S'''tato Italiane
|-
| L-CFL || [[Luxembourg|'''L'''uxembourg]] || Société Nationale des '''C'''hemins de '''F'''er '''L'''uxembourgeois
|-
| NL-NS || [[Netherlands|'''N'''etherlands]] || '''N'''ederlandse '''S'''poorwegen
|-
| TR-TCDD || [[Turkey|'''T'''u'''r'''key]] || '''T'''ürkiye '''C'''umhuriyeti '''D'''evlet '''D'''emiryolları
|}

When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The [[České dráhy|Czech railways]] bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}

=== Europe 1964 to 2005 ===
[[File:20120801Y173a B5063 20-33704-7--Bt5085 80-35951-3 CH-BLS.jpg|thumb|right|upright=2.0|BLS coaches, on the left still with owner code 63, on the right with country code 85 and VKM BLS]]
The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as ''UIC number''. The third and fourth digit of the number indicated the owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit [[Railway vehicle owner's code|owner code]]. With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company [[BLS Lötschbergbahn]] had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and the VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957:
* delivered as BLS B 831
* renumbered with UIC number 50 '''63''' 20-33 801-5
* rebuilt 1991 and renumbered 50 '''63''' 20-33 705-4 
* registered as 50 '''85''' 20-35 451-7 CH-BLS

=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the [[Great Western Railway]] were marked "G W"; those of the [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]] were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between the railways and registered with the [[Railway Clearing House]].

=== India ===
In India, wagons owned by the [[Indian Railways]] are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the [[Western Railway zone]] are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the [[Central Railway zone]] are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between the railways and registered with the [[Ministry of Railways (India)|Ministry of Railways]], [[Government of India]].

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of IR Zones
|-
!
! Railway Zone
! Code
! Zone Headquarters
|-
| 1. || [[Northern Railway zone|Northern Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | NR || [[Delhi railway division|Delhi]] 
|-
| 2. || [[North Eastern Railway zone|North Eastern Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | NER || [[Gorakhpur]] 
|-
| 3. || [[Northeast Frontier Railway zone|Northeast Frontier Railway]] ||  style="text-align:center;" | NFR || [[Guwahati]] 
|-
| 4. || [[Eastern Railway zone|Eastern Railway]] || style="text-align:center;"| ER || [[Kolkata]] 
|-
| 5. || [[South Eastern Railway zone|South Eastern Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | SER || [[Kolkata]] 
|-
| 6. || [[South Central Railway zone|South Central Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | SCR || [[Secunderabad Railway Station|Secunderabad]] ([[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]]) 
|-
| 7. || [[Southern Railway zone|Southern Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | SR || [[Chennai]] 
|-
| 8. || [[Central Railway zone|Central Railway]] || style="text-align:center;"| CR || [[Mumbai]] 
|-
| 9. || [[Western Railway zone|Western Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | WR || [[Mumbai]] 
|-
| 10. || [[South Western Railway zone|South Western Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | SWR || [[Hubballi]] 
|-
| 11. || [[North Western Railway zone|North Western Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | NWR || [[Jaipur]] 
|-
| 12. || [[West Central Railway zone|West Central Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | WCR || [[Jabalpur]] 
|-
| 13. || [[North Central Railway zone|North Central Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | NCR || [[Allahabad]] 
|-
| 14. || [[South East Central Railway zone|South East Central Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | SECR || [[Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh|Bilaspur]] 
|-
| 15. || [[East Coast Railway zone|East Coast Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | ECoR || [[Bhubaneswar]] 
|-
| 16. || [[East Central Railway zone|East Central Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | ECR || [[Hajipur]] 
|-
| 17. || [[Kolkata Metro]] || style="text-align:center;" | MR || [[Kolkata]]
|-
| 18. || [[South Coast Railway zone|South Coast Railway]] || style="text-align:center;" | SCoR || [[Visakhapatnam]]
|}

==See also==
* [[Automatic equipment identification]]
* [[UIC Country Code]], a series of prefixes used on [[rolling stock]] identification numbers by members of the [[International Union of Railways]] (UIC) to identify the country of origin of railway rolling stock
* [[UIC wagon numbers]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.nakina.net/other/report/report.html Reporting Marks 1920-present] – unofficial and incomplete compilation of historic reporting marks

[[Category:Lists of AAR reporting marks| ]]
[[Category:Identifiers]]
[[Category:International rail transport]]
[[Category:Rail transportation in North America]]
[[Category:Railway vehicles register numbers]]