Definitions

For purposes of these Uniform Rules, the term

a) „carrier” means the contractual carrier with whom the passenger has concluded the contract of carriage pursuant to these Uniform Rules, or a successive carrier who is liable on the basis of this contract;

b) „substitute carrier” means a carrier, who has not concluded the contract of carriage with the passenger, but to whom the carrier referred to in letter a) has entrusted, in whole or in part, the performance of the carriage by rail;

c) „General Conditions of Carriage” means the conditions of the carrier in the form of general conditions or tariffs legally in force in each Member State and which have become, by the conclusion of the contract of carriage, an integral part of it;

d) „vehicle” means a motor vehicle or a trailer carried on the occasion of the carriage of passengers.

Article 4

Derogations

§ 1 The Member States may conclude agreements which provide for derogations from these Uniform Rules for carriage performed exclusively between two stations on either side of the frontier, when there is no other. station between them.

§ 2 For carriage performed between two Member States, passing through a State which is not a Member State, the States concerned may conclude agreements which derogate from these Uniform Rules.

§ 3 Subject to other provisions of public international law, two or more Member States may set between themselves conditions under which carriers are subject to the obligation to 3 carry passengers, luggage, animals and vehicles in traffic between those States.

§ 4 Agreements referred to in §§ 1 to 3 as well as their coming into force shall be notified to the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail. The Secretary General of the Organisation shall notify the Member States and interested undertakings of this.

Article 5

Mandatory law

Unless provided otherwise in these Uniform Rules, any stipulation which, directly or indirectly, would derogate from these Uniform Rules shall be null and void. The nullity of such a stipulation shall not involve the nullity of the other provisions of the contract of carriage. Nevertheless, a carrier may assume a liability greater and obligations more burdensome than those provided for in these Uniform Rules.

Title II

CONCLUSION AND PERFORMANCE OF THE CONTRACT OF CARRIAGE

Article 6

Contract of carriage

§ 1 By the contract of carriage the carrier shall undertake to carry the passenger as well as, where appropriate, luggage and vehicles to the place of destination and to deliver the luggage and vehicles at the place of destination.

§ 2 The contract of carriage must be confirmed by one or more tickets issued to the passenger. However, subject to Article 9 the absence, irregularity or loss of the ticket shall not affect the existence or validity of the contract which shall remain subject to these Uniform Rules.

§ 3 The ticket shall be prima facie evidence of the conclusion and the contents of the contract of carriage.

Article 7

Ticket

§ 1 The General Conditions of Carriage shall determine the form and content of tickets as well as the language and characters in which they are to be printed and made out.

§ 2 The following, at least, must be entered on the ticket:

a) the carrier or carriers;

b) a statement that the carriage is subject, notwithstanding any clause to the contrary, to these Uniform Rules; this may be indicated by the acronym CIV;

c) any other statement necessary to prove the conclusion and contents of the contract of carriage and enabling the passenger to assert the rights resulting from this contract.

§ 3 The passenger must ensure, on receipt of the ticket, that it has been made out in accordance with his instructions.

§ 4 The ticket shall be transferable if it has not been made out in the passenger’s name and if the journey has not begun.

§ 5 The ticket may be established in the form of electronic data registration, which can be transformed into legible written symbols: The procedure used for the registration and treatment of data must be equivalent from the functional point of view, particularly so far as concerns the evidential value of the ticket represented by those data.

Article 8

Payment and refund of the carriage charge

§ 1 Subject to a contrary agreement between the passenger and the carrier, the carriage charge shall be payable in advance.

§ 2 The General Conditions of Carriage shall determine under what conditions a refund of the carriage charge shall be made.

Article 9

Right to be carried. Exclusion from carriage

§ 1 The passenger must, from the start of his journey, be in possession of a valid ticket and produce it on the inspection of tickets. The General Conditions of Carriage may provide

a) that a passenger who does not produce a valid ticket must pay, in addition to the carriage charge, a surcharge;

b) that a passenger who refuses to pay the carriage charge or the surcharge upon demand may be required to discontinue his journey;

c) if and under what conditions a refund of the surcharge shall be made.

§ 2 The General Conditions of Carriage may provide that passengers who

a) present a danger for safety and the good functioning of the operations or for the safety of other passengers,

b) inconvenience other passengers in an intolerable manner, shall be excluded from carriage or may be required to discontinue their journey and that such persons shall not be entitled to a refund of their carriage charge or of any charge for the carriage of registered luggage they may have paid.

Article 10

Completion of administrative formalities

The passenger must comply with the formalities required by customs or other administrative authorities.

Article 11

Cancellation and late running of trains. Missed connections

The carrier must, where necessary, certify on the ticket that the train has been cancelled or the connection missed.

Title III

CARRIAGE OF HAND LUGGAGE, ANIMALS, REGISTERED LUGGAGE AND VEHICLES

Chapter I

COMMON PROVISIONS

Article 12

Acceptable articles and animals

§ 1 The passenger may take with him articles which can be handled easily (hand luggage) and also live animals in accordance with the General Conditions of Carriage. Moreover, the passenger may take with him cumbersome articles in accordance with the special provisions, contained in the General Conditions of Carriage. Articles and animals likely to annoy or inconvenience passengers or cause damage shall not be allowed as hand luggage.

§ 2 The passenger may consign articles and animals as registered luggage in accordance with the General Conditions of Carriage.

§ 3 The carrier may allow the carriage of vehicles on the occasion of the carriage of passengers in accordance with special provisions, contained in the General Conditions of Carriage.

§ 4 The carriage of dangerous goods as hand luggage, registered luggage as well as in or on vehicles which, in accordance with this Title are carried by rail, must comply with the Regulation concerning the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID).

Article 13

Examination

§ 1 When there is good reason to suspect a failure to observe the conditions of carriage, the carrier shall have the right to examine whether the articles (hand luggage, registered luggage, vehicles including their loading) and animals carried comply with the conditions of carriage, unless the laws and prescriptions of the State in which the examination would take place prohibit such examination. The passenger must be invited to attend the examination. If he does not appear or cannot be reached; the carrier must require the presence of two independent witnesses.

§ 2 If it is established that the conditions of carriage have not been respected, the carrier can require the passenger to pay the costs arising from the examination.

Article 14

Completion of administrative formalities

The passenger must comply with the formalities required by customs or other administrative authorities when, on being carried, he has articles (hand luggage, registered luggage, vehicles including their loading) or animals carried. He shall be present at the inspection of these articles save where otherwise provided by the laws and prescriptions of each State.

Chapter II

HAND LUGGAGE AND ANIMALS

Article 15

Supervision

It shall be the passenger’s responsibility to supervise the hand luggage and animals that he takes with him.

Chapter III

REGISTERED LUGGAGE

Article 16

Consignment of registered luggage

§ 1 The contractual obligations relating to the forwarding of registered luggage must be established by a luggage registration voucher issued to the passenger.

§ 2 Subject to Article 22 the absence, irregularity or loss of the luggage registration voucher shall not affect the existence or the validity of the agreements concerning the forwarding of the registered luggage, which shall remain subject to these Uniform Rules.

§ 3 The luggage registration voucher shall be prima facie evidence of the registration of the luggage and the conditions of its carriage.

§ 4 Subject to evidence to the contrary, it shall be presumed that when the carrier took over the registered luggage it was apparently in a good condition, and that the number and the mass of the items of luggage corresponded to the entries on the luggage registration voucher.

Article 17

Luggage registration voucher

§ 1 The General Conditions of Carriage shall determine the form and content of the luggage registration voucher as well as the language and characters in which it is to be printed and made out. Article 7 § 5 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

§ 2 The following, at least, must be entered on the luggage registration voucher:

a) the carrier or carriers;

b) a statement that the carriage is subject, notwithstanding any clause to the contrary, to these Uniform Rules; this may be indicated by the acronym CIV;

c) any other statement necessary to prove the contractual obligations relating to the forwarding of the registered luggage and enabling the passenger to assert the rights resulting from the contract of carriage.

§ 3 The passenger must ensure, on receipt of the luggage registration voucher, that it has been made out in accordance with his instructions.

Article 18

Registration and carriage

§ 1 Save where the General Conditions of Carriage otherwise provide, luggage shall be registered only on production of a ticket valid at least as far as the destination of the luggage. In other respects the registration of luggage shall be carried out in accordance with the prescriptions in force at the place of consignment.

§ 2 When the General Conditions of Carriage provide that luggage may be accepted for carriage without production of a ticket, the provisions of these Uniform Rules determining the rights and obligations of the passenger in respect of his registered luggage shall apply mutatis mutandis to the consignor of registered luggage.

§ 3 The carrier can forward the registered luggage by another train or by another mode of transport and by a different route from that taken by the passenger.

Article 19

Payment of charges for the carriage of registered luggage

Subject to a contrary agreement between the passenger and the carrier, the charge for the carriage of registered luggage shall be payable on registration.

Article 20

Marking of registered luggage

The passenger must indicate on each item of registered luggage in a clearly visible place, in a sufficiently durable and legible manner:

a) his name and address,

b) the place of destination.

Article 21

Right to dispose of registered luggage

§ 1 If circumstances permit and if customs requirements or the requirements of other administrative authorities are not thereby contravened, the passenger can request luggage to be handed back at the place of consignment on surrender of the luggage registration voucher and, if the General Conditions of Carriage so require, on production of the ticket.

§ 2 The General Conditions of Carriage may contain other provisions concerning the right to dispose of registered luggage, in particular modifications of the place of destination and the possible financial consequences to be borne by the passenger.

Article 22

Delivery

§ 1 Registered luggage shall be delivered on surrender of the luggage registration voucher and, where appropriate, on payment of the amounts chargeable against the consignment. The carrier shall be entitled, but not obliged, to examine whether the holder of the voucher is entitled to take delivery.

§ 2 It shall be equivalent to delivery to the holder of the luggage registration voucher if; in accordance with the prescriptions in force at the place of destination:

a) the luggage has been handed over to the customs or octroi authorities at their premises or warehouses, when these are not subject to the carrier’s supervision;

b) live animals have been handed over to third parties.

§ 3 The holder of the luggage registration voucher may require delivery of the luggage at the place of destination as soon as the agreed time and, where appropriate, the time necessary for the operations carried out by customs or other administrative authorities, has elapsed.

§ 4 Failing surrender of the luggage registration voucher, the carrier shall only be obliged to deliver the luggage to the person proving his right thereto; if the proof offered appears insufficient, the carrier may require security to be given.

§ 5 Luggage shall be delivered at the place of destination for which it has been registered.

§ 6 The holder of a luggage registration voucher whose luggage has not been delivered may require the day and time to be endorsed on the voucher when he requested delivery in accordance with § 3.

§ 7 The person entitled may refuse to accept the luggage if the carrier does not comply with his request to carry out an examination of the registered luggage in order to establish alleged damage.

§ 8 In all other respects delivery of luggage shall be carried out in accordance with the prescriptions in force at the place of destination.

Chapter IV

VEHICLES

Article 23

Conditions of carriage

The special provisions governing the carriage of vehicles, contained in the General Conditions of Carriage, shall specify in particular the conditions governing acceptance for carriage, registration, loading and carriage, unloading and delivery as well as the obligations of the passenger.