OSShD

This section is about the OSShD, (see also OSJD) i.e. mainly about their signals.

OSShD-Logo

OSShD-Karte

OSShD is the Latin transcription of the Russian abbreviation ОСЖД (Организация Сотрудничества Железных Дорог  - 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 currently has 25 member states (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea (North), Kyrgyzstan, 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 300.000 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.

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Members

OSShD abbrev. Railway name Railway name (engl.) Country

km of tracks

ADY (Aserbaidschan) ADDY Azərbaycan Dövlət Dəmir Yolu Azerbaijan State Railway Azerbaijan 2.957
BC (Weissrussland) BC Белорусская Железная Дорога
Belarusskaya Želesnaya Doroga
Byelorussian Railway Belarus 5.512
BDZ (Bulgarien) BDZ Български държавни железници
Blgarsky D'ržavni Železnichy
Bulgarian State Railways Bulgaria 4.294
KZD (China) KZD 中国国家铁路集团
Zhōngguó guójiā tiělù jítuán
China Railway China 71.898
CD (Tschechien) CD České Dráhy Czech Railways Czech Republic 9.543
ER (Estland) EVR Eesti Raudtee Estonian Railways Estonia 958
GR (Georgien) GR საქართველოს რკინიგზა
Sakartvelos Rkinigsa
Georgian Railway Georgia 1.612
MÁV (Ungarn)
MÁV Magyar Államvasutak Hungarian Railway Hungary 7.937
RAI (Iran) RAI شركت راه آهن جمهوری اسلامی ایران
Rahahan-e Jomhori-e Eslami Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Iran 7.203
KTZ (Kasachstan) KTŽ Қазақстан темір жолы
Qazaqstan Temir Žoly
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy
Kazakhstan Railways Kazakhstan 13.700
  ZC (Nordkorea) ZC 조선민주주의인민공화국의 철도
Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwagukŭi Ch'ŏlto
Democratic People's Republic of Korea Railways Korea (North) 5.214
KTZ (Kirgisien) KTZ Кыргыз Темир Жолу
Kyrgyz Temir Žoly
Kyrgyz Railway Kyrgyzstan 470
LDZ (Lettland) LDZ Latvijas Dzelzceļš Latvijan Railway Latvia 2.303
LG (Litauen) LG Lietuvos Geležinkeliai Lithuanian Railways Lithuania 1.998
CFM (Moldawien) CFM Железная Дорога Молдова
Železnaya Doroga Moldowa
Calea Feratǎ din Moldova
Railway of Moldova Moldova 1.138
MTZ (Mongolei) MTZ Улаанбаатар Төмөр зам
Ulaanbataar Tömör Zam
Ulaanbaatar Railway Mongolia 1.810
PKP (Polen) PKP Polskie Koleje Państwowe Polish State Railway Poland 23.852
CFR (Rumänien) CFR Căi Ferate Romane Romanian Railways Romania 11.385
RŽD (Russland) RŽD Российские железные дороги
Rossijskie Železnye Dorogi
Russian Railways Russian Federation 87.157
ŽSR (Slowakei) ŽSR Železníc Slovenskej Republiky Railways of the Slovak Republic Slovakia 3.662
TDŽ (Tadschikistan) TDŽ Rokhy Okhany Tochikiston Tajik Railways Tajikistan 482
TDY (Turkmenistan) TDÝ Turkmendemirýollari Turkmen Railways Turkmenistan 2.440
UŽ (Ukraine) Українскі Залізниці
Ukrainski Zalizniči
Ukrainian Railways Ukraine 22.473
OTY (Usbekistan) OTY O'zbekiston Temir Yo'llari Uzbekistan Railways Uzbekistan 3.950
DSVN (Vietnam) DSVN Đường Sắt Việt Nam
Vietnam Railways Vietnam 2.600
Sum 296.548

Observers

abbrev. Railway name Railway name (engl.) Country

km of tracks

VR (Finnland) VR Valtionrautatiet (VR) State's Railway (VR) Finland 5.851
SNCF (Frankreich) SNCF Societé National de Chemins de Fer Françaises National Society of the French Railways France 29.519
DB (Deutschland) DB Deutsche Bahn AG German Railway, Inc Germany 46.166
OSE (Griechenland) OSE Οργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδας
Organismos Siderodromon Ellados
Greek Railway Organisation Greece 2.571