This section is about the OSShD, (see also OSJD) i.e. mainly about their signals.
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OSShD is the Latin transcription of the Russian
abbreviation ОСЖД (Организация Сотрудничества Железных
Дорог [Organizatsiya Sotrudničestva Železnykh Dorog] - Organisation for the
Combined
Operations of Railways). The Chinese characters 铁组 are pronounced tiě
zǔ -
Iron[way] Group.
(Note that as the transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin letters is
different among
various languages, you may also come across the spellings
OSJD
or OSZhD.)
The OSShD is headquartered in Warsaw and was founded in 1956, its membership is comprised of the Transport Ministries and central state bodies responsible for railways. The main areas of OSShD's activity are the development and improvement of international rail transport, particularly between Europe and Asia, including combined transport, coordination of international rail traffic transport policy; improvement of how standard (1435 mm) and Russian wide gauge (1520 mm) rail networks work together; co-operation with other international organisations; improvement of international transport law.
It's current member states are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea (North), Korea (South), Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam) plus four observers (Finland, France, Germany, Greece). The trackage of the members combined equals nearly 400.000 km, or roughly a third of the world's railways trackage. In the former COMECON and some neighbouring nations, OSShD was the common railway standardization body and remains so today.
Among other things, one important subject they were able to standardize are the colour light signals, which have very similar aspects throughout the member states, so you can drive your train from East Germany to Vietnam while seeing just about the same signal aspects.
Upon the Reunification of Germany, the member state East Germany ceased to exist while Germany took observer status.
| OSShD abbrev. | Railway name | Railway name (engl.) | Country |
km of tracks |
|
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ARA | د افغانستان د اوسپنېپټلۍ اداره Da Ufghanstan da Ospaneptali Edara |
Afghanistan Railway Authority | Afghanistan | 225 |
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HSH | Hekurudha Shqiptare | Albanian Railways | Albania | 447 |
 |
ADDY | Azərbaycan Dövlət Dəmir Yolu | Azerbaijan State Railway | Azerbaijan | 2.957 |
 |
BC | Белорусская
Железная Дорога Belarusskaya Želesnaya Doroga |
Byelorussian Railway | Belarus | 5.512 |
 |
BDZ | Български
държавни железници Blgarsky D'ržavni Železnichy |
Bulgarian State Railways | Bulgaria | 4.294 |
 |
KZD | 中国国家铁路集团 Zhōngguó guójiā tiělù jítuán |
China Railway | China | 155.000 |
 |
UFC | Unión de Ferrocarriles de Cuba | Union of Cuban Railways | Cuba | 1.055 |
 |
CD | České Dráhy | Czech Railways | Czech Republic | 9.543 |
 |
EVR | Eesti Raudtee | Estonian Railways | Estonia | 958 |
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GR | საქართველოს
რკინიგზა Sakartvelos Rkinigsa |
Georgian Railway | Georgia | 1.612 |
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MÁV | Magyar Államvasutak | Hungarian Railway | Hungary | 7.937 |
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RAI | شركت راه آهن
جمهوری اسلامی ایران Rahahan-e Jomhori-e Eslami Iran |
Islamic Republic of Iran Railways | Iran | 12.998 |
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ҚТЖ / KTŽ | Қазақстан темір
жолы Qazaqstan Temir Žoly Kazakhstan Temir Zholy |
Kazakhstan Railways | Kazakhstan | 13.700 |
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ZC | 조선민주주의인민공화국의 철도 Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwagukŭi Ch'ŏlto |
Democratic People's Republic of Korea Railways | Korea (North) | 5.214 |
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KR | 국가철도공단 Gugga Cheoldo Gongdan |
National Railway Society | Korea (South) | 4.018 |
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KTJ | Кыргыз Темир Жолу Kyrgyz Temir Žoly |
Kyrgyz Railway | Kyrgyzstan | 470 |
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LNR | ທາງລົດໄຟລາວ Thang Lodfai La |
Lao Railway Authority | Laos | 500 |
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LDZ | Latvijas Dzelzceļš | Latvijan Railway | Latvia | 2.303 |
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LG | Lietuvos Geležinkeliai | Lithuanian Railways | Lithuania | 1.998 |
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CFM | Железная Дорога
Молдова Železnaya Doroga Moldowa Calea Feratǎ din Moldova |
Railway of Moldova | Moldova | 1.138 |
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MTZ | Монголын төмөр зам Mongolyn Tömör Zam |
Mongolian Railway | Mongolia | 1.810 |
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PKP | Polskie Koleje Państwowe | Polish State Railway | Poland | 23.852 |
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CFR | Compania Națională de Căi Ferate | National Railway Company | Romania | 11.385 |
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RŽD | Российские
железные дороги Rossijskie Železnye Dorogi |
Russian Railways | Russian Federation | 87.157 |
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ŽSR | Železníc Slovenskej Republiky | Railways of the Slovak Republic | Slovakia | 3.662 |
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TDŽ | Рохи охани Точикистон Rokhy Okhany Tochikiston |
Tajik Railways | Tajikistan | 482 |
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TDÝ | Turkmendemirýollari | Turkmen Railways | Turkmenistan | 2.440 |
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UŽ | Українскі
Залізниці Ukrainski Zalizniči |
Ukrainian Railways | Ukraine | 22.473 |
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OTY | O'zbekiston Temir Yo'llari | Uzbekistan Railways | Uzbekistan | 3.950 |
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DSVN | Đường Sắt
Việt Nam |
Vietnam Railways | Vietnam | 2.600 |
| Sum | 391.690 | ||||
| abbrev. | Railway name | Railway name (english) | Country |
km of tracks |
|
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VR | Valtionrautatiet (VR) | State's Railway (VR) | Finland | 5.851 |
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SNCF | Societé National de Chemins de Fer Françaises | National Society of the French Railways | France | 29.519 |
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DB | Deutsche Bahn AG | German Railway, Inc | Germany | 46.166 |
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OSE1 | Οργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδος Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados |
Hellenic Railway Organisation | Greece | 2.571 |
1) Note: the link https://ose.gr seems to be offline (status April 2025)
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