About

Who we are

Founded in 1950, the UIP – International Union of Wagon Keepers, with its seat in Brussels, is the umbrella association of national associations from fourteen European countries, thus representing more than 250 freight wagon keepers and ECMs with more than 220’000 freight wagons, performing 50 % of the rail freight tonne-Kilometres throughout Europe. The UIP represents the members’ concerns at international level. By means of research, lobbying and focused cooperation with all stakeholders and organisations interested in rail freight transportation, the UIP wants to secure on the long term the future of rail freight transport.

What we represent

As the voice for more than 220’00 rail freight wagons, we represent one of the most important resources for rail freight transportation in Europe. At UIP our priority is to support wagon keepers and those who have a role as Entities in Charge of Maintenance in achieving higher economic performance and adapting to modern logistics chain requirements.

In Economic terms, UIP stands for:

a 12bn € private investment in existing rolling stock
a yearly 400 – 500mio € private investment in new rolling stock

Private keepers' wagon fleet 2021

Hover over each part of the pie for more details

Private keepers' wagon fleet in numbers

Type of wagon	2019	2020	2021
RID but not class-2	50.261	53.020	53.921
RID class 2	17.446	19.158	19.373
Non-RID	10.763	6.520	6.803
Total tank	78.470	78.698	80.097
Combined	36.613	37.796	37.540
Flat	26.992	25.297	22.971
Total intermodal	63.605	63.093	60.511
Open hopper	18.039	17.343	16.649
Covered hopper	12.496	10.881	11.362
Powder hopper	7.600	7.727	7.481
Total hopper	38.135	35.951	35.492
Covered	16.580	16.121	16.454
Open box	7.818	7.093	8.135
Total conventional	24.398	23.214	24.589
Car-Carrier	11.149	11.666	11.618
Coils	4.415	5.953	7.455
Others	4.743	4.706	3.715
Total special purpose	20.307	22.325	22.788

TOTAL WAGON FLEET	224.915	223.281	223.477

Our strategic objectives

Looking at improving the attractiveness and competitiveness of rail freight services in Europe, we aim at:

increasing the awareness among policy and decision makers of the role of the wagon keepers in the railway system and in the logistics supply-chain
developing an economically sound long-term vision for investments in rail freight wagons
ensuring fair market conditions between transport modes and fair intramodal competition (freight vs. passenger)
developing a common culture for efficient exchanges of information and relevant data among the actors in the railway system and the supply chain, including freight customers
promoting regulatory stability and consistency at EU level to ensure wagon interoperability and safety while respecting the lifecycle of the assets (25-35 years)