This page tries to make the summary of the rolling stock identification in use at the SNCB/NMBS. It has mainly been created by Stefan Nicolaï, with the collaboration of Kees Smilde, Jacques Peeters and Tobias Köhler. Your corrections and remarks are welcome by writing to David De Neef.

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Locomotives

Today, each motorized unit is identified by four digits, except for the emu's. This numbering comes from the former numbering that was changed in 1971.

Before January 1st, 1971, different machines were identified by the "type" only. All motorized stock had a six digit number, the first three giving the type, the last three giving the number of that unit in the whole series. After the type number, a dot was placed, followed by the number of that particular engine, so unit 204.003 was the 3rd locomotive of the type 204 locomotives.

After January 1st, 1971, the categorisation "series" and "class" were introduced. At this moment, the "type" identification is no longer in use, and it is replaced by the "series" identification using only four digits. The first digit gives the "class" of locomotive (shunters - diesel engines - traction locomotives - ...). The combination of the two first digits gives the "series", while the last two digits give the number of that particular engine, so 5505 is the 5th locomotive of the class 5 diesels, series 55.

During the years, several locomotives, previously used for passenger duty (that needed a steamgenerator for the heating system of the cars) were rebuilt for goods service only. These engines, that no longer have an (active) steamgenerator, got a leading dot in front of their number. eg ".5113". It is clear to see that these engines still can be used for passenger trains during the summertime.

EMU's have a completely different numbering scheme. The numbering doesn't really reflect a 'type' information. It only reflects the building year of the first units of that type. The numbers on the units just are the series number of that particular unit. Here, you really need a table to know what type a certain EMU is.

The DMU's that survived after 1971 received a four digits numerotation, like the locomotives.

Steam locomotives got a number, consisting of a type number, followed by a dot, and the number of that locomotive, so loc 13.029 is loc 29 of type 13. Loc 1.002 is the second loc of type 1.

Conversion tables

The following tables give for each "series" the corresponding "type". Since some locomotives were rebuilt and categorized in other types or series, the real numbering sometimes doesn't correspond to theory.

Determination of the class

Diesel Locomotives (class 5 and 6)

Shunters (class 7 and 8) and Locotractors (class 9)

Tractions locomotives (class 1 and 2)

Class 2 locomotives are single voltage engines, so they can be used only on the Belgian railroad system, while class 1 engines can be used for international traffic to Netherlands, France and Germany (because these countries have other power systems for traction).

Electric Motor Units

Diesel Motor Units

(only those remaining after 1971 are mentioned.)

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Passenger coaches

Belgian stock has two numbers: the international UIC numbering, and the Belgian 5 digit numbering. Both are printed on the cars, but the Belgian number is striked out.

The 12 digit UIC numbers on passenger cars look as follows:

For explaining these numbers, we refer to Tobias Köhler's pages on the European Railway Server.

• Digits 1 and 2: type of car and international utilization modus
• Digits 3 and 4: railway company
• Digits 5 and 6: Type of car
• Digits 7 and 8: Speed and heating
• Digits 9 to 11: serial number

• Digit 12: redundancy check digit

                 5   1   8   8   1   9  -  8   0   4   0   1 
multiplied by    2   1   2   1   2   1     2   1   2   1   2
--------------------------------------------------------------
is              10   1  16   8   2   9    16   8   8   0   2

add digits:     1+0 +1 +1+6 +8  +2  +9   +1+6 +8  +8  +0  +2 = 46

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Freight cars

The numbers on freight cars look like this:

To explain these numbers, we refer to Tobias Köhler's page on the European Railway Server.

• Digits 1 and 2: type of car and international utilization modus
• Digits 3 and 4: railway company
• Digits 5 and 6: Type of car
• Digit 7: Subtype for digit 5 and 6
• Digits 8 to 11: serial number

• Digit 12: redundancy check digit

Next to the UIC-nummer, besides digit 1 and 2 (when written vertically) there is an additional lettercode. Possible are:

• RIV: (Italian acronym for 'Regulations governing the reciprocal use of wagons in international transport'). In all European countries (except ex-Soviet countries) it is possible to use these wagons, since 1924. The country where the wagon is located has to pay rent, is responsible for damage, and must return the wagon immediately, resulting in empty runs. In order to improve this situation, the 'EUROP' wagon pool was created.
• EUROP: Regulations, applicable to CFL, DB, DSB, FS, NS, ÖBB, SBB, NMBS & SNCF since 1953. 'EUROP' wagons can be used freely on the railways above, without any limitations. The countrys must maintain the EUROP fleet like its own wagons, except for periodic overhauls. In principle, care is taken to prevent uneven wagon distribution.
  There are now 13 wagon types in the EUROP pool, most of them without specialized use.
  Since EUROP wagons are also RIV cars, the 'EUROP' annotation will always be accompanied by the 'RIV' annotation.
• Triangle: Wagons for domestic use only

Next to the country code, in case of vertical annotation, also the 'lettercode' for the railway company is mentioned (for the NMBS/SNCB the 'B' logo is used).

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These datas are provided by Stefan Nicolaï, with Kees Smilde and Jacques Peeters' help for corrections and additions. This page is maintained by David De Neef.