Article 24

Carriage voucher

§ 1 The contractual obligations relating to the carriage of vehicles must be established by a carriage voucher issued to the passenger. The carriage voucher may be integrated into the passenger’s ticket,

§ 2 The special provisions governing the carriage of vehicles, contained in the General Conditions of Carriage, shall determine the form and content of the carriage voucher as well as the language and the characters in which it is to be printed and made out. Article § 5 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

§ 3 The following, at least, must be entered on the carriage 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 carriage of vehicles and enabling the passenger to assert the rights resulting from the contract of carriage.

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

Article 25

Applicable law

Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the provisions of Chapter III relating to the carriage of luggage shall apply to vehicles.

Title IV

LIABILITY OF THE CARRIER

Chapter I

LIABILITY IN CASE OF DEATH OF, OR PERSONAL INJURY TO, PASSENGERS

Article 26

Basis of liability

§ 1 The carrier shall be liable for the loss or damage resulting from the death of, personal injuries to, or any other physical or mental harm to, a passenger, caused by an accident arising out of the operation of the railway and happening while the passenger is in, entering or alighting from railway vehicles whatever the railway infrastructure used.

§ 2 The carrier shall be relieved of this liability

a) if the accident has been caused by circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway and which the carrier, in spite of having taken the care required in the particular circumstances of the case, could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent;

b) to the extent that the accident is due to the fault of the passenger;

c) if the accident is due to the behaviour of a third party which the carrier, in spite of having taken the care required in the particular circumstances of the case, could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable tó prevent; another undertaking using the same railway infrastructure shall not be considered as a third party; the right of recourse shall not be affected.

§ 3 If the accident is due to the behaviour of a third party and if, in spite of that, the carrier is not entirely relieved of his liability in accordance with § 2, letter c), he shall be liable in full up to the limits laid down in these Uniform Rules but without prejudice to any right of recourse which the carrier may have against the third party.

§ 4 These Uniform Rules shall not affect any liability which may be incurred by the carrier in cases not provided for in § 1.

§ 5 If carriage governed by a single contract of carriage is performed by successive carriers, the carrier bound pursuant to the contract of carriage to provide the service of carriage in the course of which the accident happened shall be liable in case of death of, and personal injuries to, passengers. When this service has not been provided by the carrier, but by a substitute carrier, the two carriers shall be jointly and severally liable in accordance with these Uniform Rules.

Article 27

Damages in case of death

§ 1 In case of death of the passenger the damages shall comprise:

a) any necessary costs following the death, in particular those of transport of the body and the funeral expenses;

b) if death does not occur at once, the damages provided for in Article 28.

§ 2 If, through the death of the passenger, persons whom he had, or would have had, a legal duty to maintain are deprived of their support, such persons shall also be compensated for that loss. Rights of action for damages of persons whom the passenger was maintaining without being legally bound to do so, shall be governed by national law.

Article 28

Damages in case of personal injury

In case of personal injury or any other physical or mental harm to the passenger the damages shall comprise:

a) any necessary costs, in particular those of treatment and of transport;

b) compensation for financial loss, due to total or partial incapacity to work, or to increased needs.

Article 29

Compensation for other bodily harm

National law shall determine whether and to what extent the carrier must pay damages or bodily harm other than that for which there is provision in Articles 27 and 28.

Article 30

Form and amount of damages in case of death and personal injury

§ 1 The damages under Article 27 § 2 and Article 28, letter b) must be awarded in the form of a lump sum. However, if national law permits payment of an annuity, the damages shall be awarded in that form if so requested by the injured passenger or by the persons entitled referred to in Article 27 § 2.

§ 2 The amount of damages to be awarded pursuant to § 1 shall be determined in accordance with national law. However, for the purposes of these Uniform Rules, the upper limit per passenger shall be set at 175,000 units of account as a lump sum or as an annual annuity corresponding to that sum, where national law provides for an upper limit of less than that amount.

Article 31

Other modes of transport

§ 1 Subject to § 2, the provisions relating to the liability of the carrier in case of death of, or personal injury to, passengers shall not apply to loss or damage arising in the course of 13 carriage which, in accordance with the contract of carriage, was not carriage by rail.

§ 2 However, where railway vehicles are carried by ferry, the provisions relating to liability in case of death of, or personal injury to, passengers shall apply to loss or damage referred to in Article 26 § 1 and Article 33 § 1, caused by an accident arising out of the operation of the railway and happening while the passenger is in, entering or alighting from the said vehicles.

§ 3 When, because of exceptional circumstances, the operation of the railway is temporarily suspended and the passengers are carried by another mode of transport, the carrier shall be liable pursuant to these Uniform Rules.

Chapter II

LIABILITY IN CASE OF FAILURE TO KEEP TO THE TIMETABLE

Article 32

Liability in case of cancellation, late running of trains or missed connections

§ 1 The carrier shall be liable to the passenger for loss or damage resulting from the fact that, by reason of cancellation, the late running of a train or a missed connection, his journey cannot be continued the same day, or that a continuation of the journey the same day could not reasonably be required because of given circumstances. The damages shall comprise the reasonable costs of accommodation as well as the reasonable costs occasioned by having to notify persons expecting the passenger.

§ 2 The carrier shall be relieved of this liability, when the cancellation, late running or missed connection is attributable to one of the following causes:

a) circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway, which the carrier, in spite of having taken the care required in the particular circumstances of the case, could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent,

b) fault on the part of the passenger or

c) the behaviour of a third party which the carrier, in spite of having taken the care required in the particular circumstances of the case, could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent; another undertaking using the same railway infrastructure shall not be considered as a third party; the right of recourse shall not be affected.

§ 3 National law shall determine whether and to what extent the carrier must pay damages for harm other than that provided for in § 1. This provision shall be without prejudice to Article 44.

Chapter III

LIABILITY IN RESPECT OF HAND LUGGAGE, ANIMALS, REGISTERED LUGGAGE AND VEHICLES

Section 1

HAND LUGGAGE AND ANIMALS

Article 33

Liability

§ 1 In case of death of, or personal injury to, passengers the carrier shall also be liable for the loss or damage resulting from the total or partial loss of, or damage to, articles which the passenger had on him or with him as hand luggage; this shall apply also to animals which the passenger had brought with him. Article 26 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

§ 2 In other respects, the carrier shall not be liable for the total or partial loss of, or damage to, articles, hand luggage or animals the supervision of which is the responsibility of the passenger in accordance with Article 15, unless this loss or damage is caused by the fault of the carrier. The other Articles of Title IV, with exception of Article 51, and Title VI shall not apply in this case.

Article 34

Limit of damages in case of loss of or damage to articles

When the carrier is liable under Article 33 § 1, he must pay compensation up to a limit of 1,400 units of account per passenger.

Article 35

Exclusion of liability

The carrier shall not be liable to the passenger for loss or damage arising from the fact that the passenger does not conform to the formalities required by customs or other administrative authorities.

Section 2

REGISTERED LUGGAGE

Article 36

Basis of liability

§ 1 The carrier shall be liable for loss or damage resulting from the total or partial loss of, or damage to, registered luggage between the time of taking over by the carrier and the time of delivery as well as from delay in delivery.

§ 2 The carrier shall be relieved of this liability to the extent that the loss, damage or delay in delivery was caused by a fault of the passenger, by an order given by the passenger other than as a result of the fault of the carrier, by an inherent defect in the registered luggage or by circumstances which the carrier could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent.

§ 3 The carrier shall be relieved of this liability to the extent that the loss or damage arises from the special risks inherent in one or more of the following circumstances:

a) the absence or inadequacy of packing,

b) the special nature of the luggage,

c) the consignment as luggage of articles not acceptable for carriage.

Article 37

Burden of proof

§ 1 The burden of proving that the loss, damage or delay in delivery was due to one of the causes specified in Article 36 § 2 shall lie on the carrier.

§ 2 When the carrier establishes that, having regard to the circumstances of a particular case, the loss or damage could have arisen from one or more of the special risks referred to in Article 36 § 3, it shall be presumed that it did so arise. The person entitled shall, however, have the right to prove that the loss or damage was not attributable either wholly or in part to one of those risks.

Article 38

Successive carriers

If carriage governed by a single contract is performed by several successive carriers, each carrier, by the very act of taking over the luggage with the luggage registration voucher or the vehicle with the carriage voucher, shall become a party to the contract of carriage in respect of the forwarding of luggage or the carriage of vehicles, in accordance with the terms of the luggage registration voucher or of the carriage voucher and shall assume the obligations arising there from. In such a case each carrier shall be responsible for the carriage over the entire route up to delivery.

Article 39

Substitute carrier

§ 1 Where the carrier has entrusted the performance of the carriage, in whole or in part, to a substitute carrier, whether or not in pursuance of a right under the contract of carriage to do so, the carrier shall nevertheless remain liable in respect of the entire carriage.

§ 2 All the provisions of these Uniform Rules governing the liability of the carrier shall apply also to the liability of the substitute carrier for the carriage performed by him. Articles 48 and 52 shall apply if an action is brought against the servants or any other persons whose services the substitute carrier makes use of for the performance of the carriage.

§ 3 Any special agreement under which the carrier assumes obligations not imposed by these Uniform Rules or waives rights conferred by these Uniform Rules shall be of no effect in respect of the substitute carrier who has not accepted it expressly and in writing. Whether or not the substitute carrier has accepted it, the carrier shall nevertheless remain bound by the obligations or waivers resulting from such special agreement.

§ 4 Where and to the extent that both the carrier and the substitute carrier are liable, their liability shall be joint and several.

§ 5 The aggregate amount of compensation payable by the carrier, the substitute carrier and their servants and other persons whose services they make use of for the performance of the carriage shall not exceed the, limits provided for in these Uniform Rules.

§ 6 This Article shall not prejudice rights of recourse which may exist between the carrier and the substitute carrier.

Article 40

Presumption of loss

§ 1 The person entitled may, without being required to furnish further proof, consider an item of luggage as lost when it has not been delivered or placed at his disposal within fourteen days after a request for delivery has been made in accordance with Article 22 § 3.

§ 2 If an item of luggage deemed to have been lost is recovered within one year after the request for delivery, the carrier must notify the person entitled if his address is known or can be ascertained.

§ 3 Within thirty days after receipt of a notification referred to in § 2, the person entitled may require the item of luggage to be delivered to him. In that case he must pay the charges in respect of carriage of the item from the place of consignment to the place where delivery is effected and refund the compensation received less, where appropriate, any costs included therein. Nevertheless he shall retain his rights to claim compensation for delay in delivery provided for in Article 43.

§ 4 If the item of luggage recovered has not been claimed within the period stated in § 3 or if it is recovered more than one year after the request for delivery, the carrier shall dispose of it in accordance with the laws and prescriptions in force at the place where the item of luggage is situated.

Article 41

Compensation for loss

§ 1 In case of total or partial loss of registered luggage, the carrier must pay, to the exclusion of all other damages: