Acronyms and Abbreviations - I
On this page- Locomotive and coach manufacturers
- Organizations and corporations
- Trains
- Railways (current and former)
- Technical abbreviations
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Q. What does “NRM” stand for? “CLW”? Etc. etc.
Note: Station codes can be found in the section on railway stations. Below are lists of the most common IR-related acronyms.
| Term | Expansion |
|---|---|
| ABB | ASEA Brown-Boveri, Switzerland |
| ALCO | American Locomotive Co., Schenectady, NY, USA |
| BBUNL | Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam, Ltd. |
| BEML | Bharat Earth Movers Limited |
| BHEL | Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited |
| BLW | Benaras Loco Works (also Baldwin Locomotive Works, USA) |
| BP | Beyer Peacock, Manchester |
| BSCL | Burn Standard Co., Ltd. |
| BTH | British Thomson Houston |
| BWEL | Bharat Wagon and Engineering Co., Ltd. |
| CLW | Chittaranjan Loco Works (also Canadian Locomotive Works (now Bombardier)) |
| DLW | Diesel Loco Works, Varanasi |
| EBW | E. B. Wilson |
| EE | English Electric |
| EMD | General Motors' Electro-Motive Division, USA |
| GEC | General Electric Corporation, UK |
| GM | General Motors, USA |
| GMD | General Motors Diesel, Canada |
| HL | Hawthorn-Leslie, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK |
| ICF | Integral Coach Factory, Perambur |
| ISW | Indian Standard Wagon Works, Satna |
| KS | Kerr Stuart, Stoke-on-Trent, UK |
| LHB | Linke Hoffman Busch GmbH, Germany |
| MLW | Montreal Locomotive Works |
| MV | Metropolitan Vickers |
| NBL | North British Locomotive Co., Glasgow |
| NW | Nasmyth Wilson, Manchester |
| O&K | Orenstein & Koppel, Berlin |
| RCF | Railway Coach Factory, Kapurthala |
| RS | Robert Stephenson, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK |
| SFAC | Societe des Forges et Ateliers, Creusot |
| SIG | Schweirische Industrie Gesselschaft |
| SLM | Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik, Winterthur, Switz. |
| TELCO | Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. |
| USATC | US Army Transportation Corps., USA |
| WB | William G. Bagnall, Stafford, UK |
| WIL | Wagon India Ltd. (an intermediary firm for wagon contracts) |
| Term | Expansion |
|---|---|
| AIRF | All-India Railwaymen's Federation (union organization) |
| BMRTC | Bangalore Metropolitan Rail Transit Corporation, Ltd. |
| BPT | Bombay Port Trust (later MPT) |
| CMC | Computer Maintenance Corporation, also Calcutta Metro Corporation |
| COFMOW | Central Organization for the Modernization of Workshops |
| CONCOR | Container Corporation of India |
| COOIS | Central Organization for Operations Information Systems |
| CORE | Central Organization for Railway Electrification |
| COS | Central Office of Standards (predecessor of RDSO) |
| CRIS | Centre for Railway Information Systems |
| CTC | Calcutta Tramways Corporation |
| DCW | Diesel Component Works, Patiala |
| DMRC | Delhi Metro Rail Corporation |
| ELRTS | Elevated Light Rail Transit System (proposed, Bangalore) |
| FNRM | Friends of the National Rail Museum |
| FROA | Federation of Officer's Associations (umbrella organization for railway officers' groups) |
| IPWE | Institution of Permanent Way Engineers |
| IRAS | Indian Railway Accounts Services (financial management) |
| IRC | Indian Railways Corporation (proposed) |
| IRCA | Indian Railway Conference Association (body that issues inspection guidelines, allots wagon codes, inspects workshops) |
| IRCON | Indian Railways Construction Company, now IRCON International Ltd., which takes on contract work to build railways in other countries (Iraq, Nepal, Indonesia...). |
| IRCOT | Indian Railways Central Organization for Telecom |
| IRCTC | Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation |
| IREB | Indian Railways Executive Board (proposed) |
| IRFC | Indian Railways Finance Corporation |
| IRIATT | Indian Railways Institute of Advanced Track Technology |
| IRICEN | Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering, Pune |
| IRIEEN | Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering, Nasik |
| IRIMEE | Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jamalpur |
| IRISET | Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications, Secunderabad |
| IRMS | Indian Railway Medical Services |
| IRPHA | Indian Railway Public Health Association |
| IRPS | indian Railway Personnel Services (human resources) |
| IRRA | Indian Railways Regulatory Authority (proposed) |
| IRSE | Indian Railway Service of Engineers |
| IRSEE | Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers |
| IRSME | Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers |
| IRSS | Indian Railway Stores Services (inventory control) |
| IRSSE | Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers |
| IRSTE | Indian Railway Signal and Telecom Engineering |
| IRTS | Indian Railway Traffic Services (management, marketing) |
| ISRS | Indian Steam Railway Society |
| ITB | International Tourist Bureau (New Delhi) |
| KRCL | Konkan Railway Corporation, Ltd. |
| KRDC | Konkan Railway Development Corporation |
| K-RIDE | Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) Ltd. |
| KRIST | Konkan Railway Institute for Staff Training |
| KMRT | Kolkata Mass Rapid Transit |
| LRDSS | Long Range Decision Support System |
| LRTS | Light Rail Transit System (proposed, Kolkata) |
| MPT | Mumbai Port Trust (see BPT) |
| MRSP | Model Railway Society of Pune |
| MRTS | Mass Rapid Transit System (Chennai) |
| MRVC | Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation |
| MTP | Metropolitan Transport Project (Railways), Bombay |
| MUTP | Mumbai Urban Transport Project (a World Bank project) |
| NAIR | National Academy of Indian Railways, formerly Railway Staff College |
| NFIR | National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (union organization) |
| NRM | National Rail Museum, New Delhi |
| PRCL | Pipavav Railway Corporation Ltd. |
| NRMU | National Railway Mazdoor Union (railway employees' trade union) |
| RB | Railway Board |
| RBSS | Railway Board Secretariat Services (part of Railway Ministry) |
| RCIL | Railtel Corporation of India, Ltd. |
| RDSO | Research, Design and Standards Organization |
| ROMA | Railway Officers' Medical Association |
| RPF | Railway Protection Force (also see below, Miscellaneous) |
| RITES | Rail India Technical and Economic Services, which takes on planning, design, and operational work in other countries (Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mexico, Zambia, Nepal, etc.). |
| RTRC | Railway Testing and Research Centre (a predecessor of RDSO) |
| RWWCO | Railway Women's Welfare Central Organization |
| RVNL | Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. |
| SGE | Siemens and General Electric Railway Signal Co., Ltd. |
| WAP | Wheel and Axle Plant, Yelahanka (also a loco classification :-) ) |
| Term | Expansion |
|---|---|
| AP | Andhra Pradesh Express |
| DQ | The Deccan Queen |
| GT | Grand Trunk Express |
| JJ | Jayanti Janata Express |
| KK | Karnataka-Kerala Express |
| TN | Tamil Nadu Express |
| POW | Palace on Wheels |
| Term | Expansion |
|---|---|
| ADCR | Agra-Delhi Chord Railway |
| BAR | Bengal Assam Railway (in 1947, renamed East Bengal Rly., and in 1961, renamed Pakistan Eastern Rly.) |
| BB&CI / BB&CIR (BBCIR) | Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway |
| BCR | Bengal Central Railway |
| BDR | Bengal Dooars Railway, also Bankura Damodar Railway |
| BESR | Bilaspur - Etawah State Railway |
| BLR | Barsi Light Railway |
| BMR | Burma Mines Railway |
| BNR | Bengal Nagpur Railway |
| BNWR | Bengal North-Western Railway |
| BPR | Bengal Provincial Railway |
| BR | Burma Railway |
| BRC | Burma Railways Corporation |
| CBR | Cooch Behar Railway |
| CGR | Ceylon Government Railway |
| CR | Central Railway |
| CSER | Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway |
| DHR | Darjeeling Himalayan Railway |
| DMSR | Dhond-Manmad State Railway (Dhond = Daund) |
| DRLR | Dehri Rohtas Light Railway |
| DSR | Drangdhara State Railway |
| EBR | East Bengal State Railway |
| ECR | East Coast Railway |
| EIR | East Indian Railway |
| EPR | Eastern Punjab Railway |
| ER | Eastern Railway |
| GBSR | Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway |
| GIPR | Great Indian Peninsular Railway |
| GLR | Gwalior Light Railway (later Scindia State Railway) |
| GSR | Gondal State Railway |
| GSIR | Great Southern of India Railway |
| IGR | Indian Government Railways |
| IMR | Indian Midland Railway |
| IR | Indian Railways |
| ISR | Indian State Railway |
| IVSR | Indus Valley State Railway |
| JDR | Jamnagar and Dwarka Railway |
| JR | Jodhpur Railway |
| JSR | Jaipur State Railway |
| KHR | Khanai-Hindubagh Railway |
| KKTR | Kushalgarh-Kohat-Thal Railway |
| KR | Konkan Railway |
| KSR | Kalka Simla Railway |
| KVR | Kangra Valley Railway |
| LJR | Larkana-Jacobabad Railway |
| MLR | Matheran Light Railway |
| MR | Madras Railway |
| MSMR | Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway |
| MSR | Mysore State Railway |
| NER | North-eastern Railway |
| NEFR, NFR | North-East Frontier Railway |
| NMR | Nilgiri Mountain Railway |
| NR | Northern Railway |
| NGSR | Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway |
| NSR | Nizam's State Railway |
| NWR | North Western Railway (in 1961, renamed Pakistan Western Rly.) |
| O&RR, ORR | Oudh and Rohilkhund Railway |
| OTR | Oudh and Tirhut Railway |
| PDB | Piplod Devgad Baria Railway |
| PLR | Parlakimedi Light Railway |
| PNSR | Punjab Northern State Railway |
| PR | Pakistan Railways |
| PSMT | Patiala State Monorail Trainways |
| RDR | Raipur Dhamtari Railway |
| RKR | Rohilkhund Kumaon Railway |
| RMR | Rajputana Malwa Railway |
| SCR | South-central Railway |
| SER | South-eastern Railway |
| SLR | Sri Lanka Railways |
| SIR | South Indian Railway |
| SMR | Southern Mahratta Railway |
| SPDR | Scinde, Punjab, and Delhi Railway |
| SR | Southern Railway |
| SSLR | Shahdara Saharanpur Light Railway |
| SSR | Scindia State Railway, also Sangli State Railway |
| TBLR | Tezpore-Balipara Light Railway |
| WCSR | Wardha Coal State Railway |
| WIPR | West of India Portuguese Railway |
| WR | Western Railway |
| Term | Expansion |
|---|---|
| ABS | Automatic Block Signalling |
| ACD | Anti-Collision Device |
| ADAM | ARTS Data Manager (system for managing EPROMs and station configuration cartridges for ARTS) |
| AE | Automatic Emergency or Auto-Emergency (type of brake system) |
| AFTC | Audio Frequency Track Circuiting |
| ATC | Automated Train Control |
| ATP | Automatic Train Protection |
| ATS | Automatic Train Stop |
| AVB | Automatic Vacuum Brake |
| ATS | Automatic Train Stop |
| BPC | Brake Power Certificate (issued before train departure) |
| BS | Braking in Series configuration |
| BSL | Block Section Limit |
| BSP | Braking in Series-Parallel configuration |
| CDO | Coaching Depot |
| CLS | Colour-light signalling |
| COCR | Confirmatory Oscillograph Car Run |
| COFC | Container on flat car |
| CTC | Centralised Traffic Control |
| CTR | Complete Track Renewal |
| CWR | Continuous Welded Rail (0.5km and longer sections of welded rail) |
| DAC | Digital Axle Counter |
| DBFO | Design-Build-Finance-Operate (a scheme for private parties to build and run railway lines with IR's help) |
| DJ | From the French disjoncteur, the main circuit breaker of an electric loco (usually pneumatically operated, roof-mounted) |
| DLBI | Double Line Block Instrument |
| DEMU | Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit |
| DETC | Diesel-Electric Tower Car |
| DHMU | Diesel Hydraulic Multiple Unit (hydraulic transmission DMU) |
| DMH | Dead Man's Handle (on EMUs) |
| DMU | Diesel Multiple Unit |
| DPC | Driving Power Car |
| DS | Disconnecting Switch (to switch off OHE power to loco circuits, usually manual) |
| DSC | Dual-Stacked Container service (or Double-Stacked Container) |
| DTC | Driving Trailer Car (unpowered driving car in EMU rake) |
| DW | Double wire (of semaphore signals) |
| EA | Extra (time) Allowed (make-up time noted in working time-tables) |
| ELCM | Electronic Load Control Module (governor for DEMUs and other diesels). |
| EMU | Electric Multiple Unit |
| EOG | End-On Generator Car |
| ETCS | European Train Control System |
| EY | Empty (notation for empty rake in real-time train information systems) |
| FEDL | Fully Electrified Double Line |
| FM | Fouling Mark |
| FMVFT | Frequency-modulated Voice-frequency Telegraph (used for control communications by signals / electric traction / traffic control staff) |
| FOR | Forward motion (position of master controller in loco) |
| FP | Fouling Point; also Feed Pipe (at couplings of vehicles) |
| GTO | Gate Turn-Off thyristor |
| HEP | Head-end Power (power from the loco for the coaches) |
| HFTC | High-Frequency Track Circuit |
| HOBC | High-Output Ballast Cleaner |
| HOG | Head-On Generator |
| HHPDMU | High-Horsepower Diesel Electric Multiple Unit |
| HPDMU | High-powered Diesel Multiple Unit |
| HSCB | High-speed Circuit Breaker |
| HT | High Tension |
| HTCBC | High Tensile-strength Centre-Buffer Coupler |
| HTS | High Tensile-strength Steel |
| IGBT | Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor |
| JRI | Junction Route Indicator |
| LOB | Lube Oil Balance |
| LTPDS | Live Train Position Display System |
| LVC | Last Vehicle Check (automated detection of rake integrity) |
| LWR | Long Welded Rail (5-15 rails welded together in a section) |
| MACL, MACLS | Multiple-Aspect Colour-Light signalling |
| MCB | Master Circuit Breaker (in locos) |
| MCI | Malleable Cast Iron |
| MEMU | Main-line Electric Multiple Unit |
| MLRI | Multi-Lamp Route Indicator |
| MNI | Modified Non-Interlocked (in working timetables) |
| MOG | Mid-On Generator Car |
| MOT | Motoring (position of master controller in loco) |
| NBT | Neale's Ball Token |
| NI | Non-Interlocked (in working timetables) |
| NTES | National Train Enquiry System |
| NX | eNtrance-eXit (interlocking panels) |
| OCV | Other Coaching Vehicle - non-passenger coaches, e.g., pantry cars. |
| OFC | Optical Fibre Cable |
| OHE | Overhead Equipment (or foreman for same) |
| OMS | Oscillation Monitoring System |
| PCS | Pneumatic Control System (loco shut-off/idling control which takes effect on application of emergency brakes) |
| PCV | Passenger Carrying Vehicle (regular passenger coaches, as distinct from OCV - restaurant cars, mail cars, etc.) |
| PI | Panel Interlocking |
| POET | Passenger Operated Enquiry Terminal |
| RCC | Remote Control Centre (for electric traction) Also, Reinforced Cement Concrete (Also see below in Miscellaneous) |
| REV | Reverse motion (position of master controller in loco), Reverser |
| ROSHAN | Rolling Stock Health Analyst (accelerometers and other equipment that monitor coach movement and report deviations from normal behaviour). |
| RPC | Resistance Power Control (or Compartment) (in EMU power cars) |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (monitoring and control system for remote control of electric traction systems) |
| SE | Superelevation (of curved track) |
| S/L | Shunting Limit |
| SLBI | Single Line Block Instrument |
| SOD | Schedule of Dimensions |
| SPAD | Signal Passed At Danger |
| SPTM | Self-Printing Ticket Machine |
| SSDAC | Solid State Digital Axle Counter |
| SSI | Solid State Interlocking |
| STR | Schedule of Technical Requirements |
| STRI | Stencil type Route Indicator |
| SW | Single wire (of semaphore signals) |
| SWR |
Short Welded Rail (2-4 rails welded together in a section) Also: Station Working Rules |
| TAB | Train Air Brake |
| TALQ | Two-Aspect Lower Quadrant |
| TAWD | Train Actuated Warning Device |
| TBTR | Through Bridge Timber Renewal |
| TFR | Through Fitting Renewal |
| TLC | Traction Locomotive Controller |
| TM | Traction Motor |
| TMS | Train Management System (train monitoring used in Bombay suburban sections) |
| TOFC | Trailer on flat car |
| T/out | Turnout |
| TPC | Traction Power Controller |
| TRC | Track Recording Car |
| TRO | Traction Rolling-stock Operations |
| TRR | Through Rail Renewal |
| TRT | Traffic Recovery Time (a kind of make-up time allotment in working timetable) |
| TSS | Traction Sub-Station |
| TSR | Through Sleeper Renewal |
| TTR | Through Turnout Renewal |
| TWR | Through Weld Renewal |
| UPF | Unity Power Factor |
| USFD | Ultrasonic Flaw Detection |
| VCC | Vacuum Continuity Certificate (issued before train departure) |
| VCB | Vacuum Circuit Breaker |
| VRP | Voltage Regulating Panel |
| WF | Weak Field |
| WILD | Wheel Impact Load Detector |
| WSR | Wheel Slip Relay |
More acronyms and abberviations in the next page.