Home / Insights

TEL TSI data licensing: which licence applies to which data

Five licences, sixteen data objects. Four Creative Commons licences by data category, and EUPL 1.2 for reference data.

  • CC BY-ND 4.06
  • CC BY-SA 4.01
  • CC BY-NC-ND 4.05
  • CC BY-NC-SA 4.01
  • EUPLEUPL 1.23

Four letters carry the whole scheme

BYAttribution

Name the source.

NCNonCommercial

No commercial use. Commercial use means the data goes into a product or a service that earns money.

NDNoDerivatives

Do not publish a changed version.

SAShareAlike

Publish a changed version under the same licence.

EUPL 1.2 is the European Union's own open licence, not a Creative Commons licence, so it carries none of the four elements: it has no NC clause and no ND clause. Its own mark stands beside it. More about the Creative Commons licences (Wikipedia)

Licence explorer

Five licences, sixteen data objects

Licence
All 16CC BY-ND 4.0 · 6CC BY-SA 4.0 · 1CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · 5CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · 1EUPL 1.2 · 3

Sixteen data objects, in five licence groups.

CC BY-ND 4.0Attribution, no derivatives6 data objects
You mayCopy the data, share it and use it in your own products, also for commercial use.
You mustName the source.
You must notPublish a changed version of the data.
Working timetableThe train paths the infrastructure manager has allocated, published as the timetable it runs.
Infrastructure manager
Freight trains: only where the freight railway undertaking chooses to disclose the data, Art. 5(4).
2.3.10Art. 5
Freight-specific reference dataThe code lists used in freight messages, managed by the rail sector.
Responsible telematics stakeholders
Always
3.3.1(3)Art. 4
Rolling stock reference databasesThe technical data of each wagon, kept by its keeper.
Vehicle keepers
Always
3.3.2(4)Art. 4
Intermodal loading unit reference databasesThe technical data of each intermodal loading unit, kept by its keeper.
ILU keepers
Always
3.3.3(4)Art. 4
Tariff dataThe fares, and the conditions attached to each fare.
Passenger RU / data holder
Only where a contractual right or obligation to grant access exists, Art. 6(3).
4.3.1(4)Art. 6(3)
Information in the stationStation and platform information, combined with train traffic and train composition data.
Station manager / IM / data holder
Always
4.7.1.1(3)Art. 4
CC BY-SA 4.0Attribution, share alike1 data object
You mayCopy, change and share the data, also for commercial use.
You mustName the source, and publish a changed version under this same licence.
You must notPut a changed version under a more restrictive licence.
Train traffic dataWhere a train is now, and when it is expected to arrive.
Infrastructure manager / freight facility
Freight trains: only where the freight railway undertaking chooses to disclose the data, Art. 5(4).
2.6.1(4)Art. 5
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives5 data objects
You mayCopy and share the data for non-commercial use.
You mustName the source.
You must notUse the data commercially, or publish a changed version of it.
Train compositionWhich vehicles form a train, and in which order.
Infrastructure manager (reusing RU data)
Freight trains: only where the freight railway undertaking chooses to disclose the data, Art. 5(4).
2.5.1(5)Art. 5
Passenger timetable dataThe departure and arrival times of passenger trains.
Passenger RU / data holder
Always
4.2.1(3)Art. 6(1)
Connection timesThe minimum time a passenger needs to change between services at an access node.
Station manager / data holder
Always
4.2.2(3)Art. 6(2)
Conditions of carriageThe rules of the contract between the passenger and the railway undertaking.
Passenger RU
Always
4.4.1(2)Art. 6(1)
Station accessibility data (ERSAD)How accessible a station is for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility.
Entity in charge of accessibility data
Always
4.4.3.2(2)PRM TSI
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Attribution, non-commercial, share alike1 data object
You mayCopy, change and share the data for non-commercial use.
You mustName the source, and publish a changed version under this same licence.
You must notUse the data commercially.
Movements of freight wagons and their loadWhere a freight wagon and its load are, shown in a shared web application.
Freight RUs via a joint web UI
Only where a group of freight railway undertakings jointly provides the web UI.
3.2(4)Art. 4
EUPL 1.2European Union Public Licence3 data objects
You mayCopy, change and share the data, also for commercial use.
You mustKeep the licence notice, and publish a changed version under the EUPL. A compatible licence is allowed only when you combine the data with a work under that licence.
You must notAdd terms that take these rights away from the next user.
Common reference dataThe shared code lists every telematics stakeholder uses, for example organisation codes and location codes.
European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)
Always
1.2(2)Art. 8(4)
ERA OntologyThe shared vocabulary that defines the data terms and how they relate, in every version.
European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)
Always
1.4(1)Art. 7
Common reference data for rail ticketingThe code lists for reservations, passenger timetables, tariffs and passenger data.
European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)
Always
4.8(1)Art. 8(4)
Practical consequence

"We use CC BY-NC-ND everywhere, it's the safest option" is not a conservative choice. CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive licence in the scheme. For 8 of the 13 data categories it would be more restrictive than the Annex permits.

The case that surprises implementers

Same company, opposite licences

Tariff data 4.3.1(4)CC BY-ND 4.0

No NC clause: commercial reuse of the unmodified data is permitted. A distributor may build a paid product on your fares.

Conditions of carriage 4.4.1(2)CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Expressly for non-commercial use only, although Article 6(1) requires this document to be public and free of charge.

The direction is the surprise. Tariff data only has to be made accessible where a contractual right or obligation exists, Art. 6(3), and it carries the more permissive licence. The category with the weaker access duty has the broader reuse permission.

Article 6(3), second subparagraph, softens this: additional terms for direct access to and commercial use of tariff data may be agreed on a contractual basis. Annex point 2.5.1(6) provides a comparable route for train composition data. That contractual layer sits alongside the licence; it does not replace it.

The framework · recitals 13 and 14

The named licence is a ceiling on restrictiveness, not a fixed text

Recital 13 of Regulation (EU) 2026/253 identifies Creative Commons licences as the recommended standard for open licences and points at the CC 4.0 licence suite. The Annex assigns a named CC licence to individual data categories. Recital 14 adds EUPL 1.2 for the reference data the Agency manages.

Every one of those assignments grants access under the named licence "or any other equivalent or less restrictive open licence". Ten of the thirteen Creative Commons assignments add "or any other equivalent or less restrictive access conditions mutually agreed upon by the involved stakeholders". An agreement can make the data more open than the named licence. It cannot make it less open.

More restrictiveMore open
Never allowedNamed licenceAlways allowed
You may never be more restrictive; you may always be more open.
Articles 4 and 5

Who gets the data: three levels of access

A licence says what you may do with data after you have it. Articles 4 and 5 say who gets the data at all. For the working timetable, train traffic, train composition and the historic record, they set three levels.

  1. Art. 4(1)Art. 5(1)
    Involved stakeholders

    Stakeholders in the same rail transport service share with each other the data they need to carry it out. The right comes from law or a contract, and for most processes also from an operational responsibility.

    Always

  2. Art. 5(2)Art. 5(4)
    The public

    Anyone can see the working timetable, train traffic, train composition and historic record data in the common Union web UI, free of charge.

    Freight trains: only where the freight railway undertaking chooses to disclose the data.

  3. Art. 4(2)
    Public authorities

    The Commission, a Union body or a public sector body can make a reasoned request. The data holder then gives free direct access to specific raw data, to monitor the single European rail area or the TEN-T network, to develop interoperability and safety, or to monitor passenger and freight flows.

    On request

Passenger data follows Article 6: passenger timetable data, connection times and conditions of carriage are public and free of charge, at least through the national access points. Two exceptions cut across the levels:

  • Dangerous goods: public access does not apply, Art. 5(3). If one wagon in a train carries dangerous goods, the composition data of the whole train is closed to the public (point 2.5.1(13)). Involved stakeholders keep their access.
  • Trains for the armed forces, and services under national security measures: Article 5 does not apply at all, Art. 5(6). The railway undertaking then sends train composition data only bilaterally (point 2.5.1(8)).

What counts as commercial use for a railway undertaking

Two of the five licences carry the NC element. The regulation does not define commercial use. It keeps the two questions apart: Article 2(14) defines access to data separately from the rules on its use for commercial or non-commercial purposes. For data about the trains in one rail transport service, Section 2 of the Annex answers the use question directly:

"In the areas of capacity management, train preparation, and traffic management of a rail transport service, telematics stakeholders subject to Article 4 shall mutually share, grant access and use, for operational and non-commercial purposes, all free-of-charge, data relating to the trains that are part of this rail transport service." Annex, Section 2, point (3)

Our reading is that the licence looks at how you got the data and what you use it for, not at what kind of company you are. For a railway undertaking this gives two cases.

Data about a service your company takes part in

You are an involved stakeholder, so your right to the data comes from Articles 4(1) and 5(1), not only from the open licence. When you use the data in capacity management, train preparation or traffic management for that service, the Annex calls the use operational and non-commercial, and free of charge.

Data about other companies' services

You get this data from the public web UI, so the open licence is your only right to use it. Under an NC licence, most business use of that data is commercial. For that use you need a contract with the data holder, or the holder must offer the data under a more open licence.

Operational, non-commercial
  • Dispatching your own trains
  • Sending an arrival estimate to your own freight customer
  • Giving delay information to your own passengers
Commercial
  • A tracking service that you sell
  • Data about competitors in a tender
  • Other railway undertakings' timetables in a journey planner that you sell

Three questions to ask

  1. Is the data about a rail transport service that your company takes part in? If not, the open licence is your only basis. For NC data, business use needs a contract or a more open licence from the data holder.
  2. Do you use the data to operate that service? This includes planning, preparing and running the service, informing its customers, and meeting your legal obligations. If yes, the use is operational and non-commercial.
  3. Do you use the data for another purpose, for example a product that you sell, an analysis of competitors, pricing or a tender? That use is commercial. For NC data, you need a contract or a more open licence.

This section is our reading of the licences and of Section 2, point (3) of the Annex. It is not legal advice. For a specific case, read the licence text and the regulation, or ask a lawyer.

What this means for implementation

  • The licence decision is made per data category, not per company and not per interface. A single site-wide licence statement covering the whole data estate is not compatible with the Annex.
  • The licence must travel with the data in machine-readable form. The access routes are the national access points and the common Union web UI, not a corporate website.
  • Freight RUs are not exempt: rolling stock and intermodal loading unit reference data (points 3.3.2 and 3.3.3) carry CC BY-ND, while wagon movement data shared through a joint web UI (point 3.2(4)) carries CC BY-NC-SA.
  • Reusing third-party data means inheriting its licence terms. Under an SA licence that propagates into your own derived product.
  • The reference data the Agency manages, the ERA Ontology and the rail ticketing code lists come under EUPL 1.2 (points 1.2(2), 1.4(1) and 4.8(1)). You may build them into your own systems, also commercially. A changed version that you publish goes out under the EUPL. You may use a compatible licence only when you combine the data with a work that already carries that licence.

Every point cited above refers to the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/253 of 6 February 2026 (TEL TSI), OJ L, 2026/253, CELEX 32026R0253. The official text governs: Regulation (EU) 2026/253, official text (EUR-Lex, EN)

We cross-check the language versions of the regulation against each other and have a clarification request open with the ERA on one individual point. This article sets out the licensing scheme and is not legal advice; the official wording of the relevant language version always governs. TEL TSI Compliance Companion is an independent tool and is not affiliated with the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).

TSI Solution GmbH checked this content against the Official Journal text on .

The full licence map is in the app

This article covers the five licences the regulation names and the three levels of access. The Data licences view applies them to each data object: eight licence and access categories with 38 assignments for a freight railway undertaking, seven with 36 for the other roles, each with its obligated actor, its access routes and its exceptions, and each traced to the English corpus.

See the plan and pricing