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CIT's involvement in the work of the UIC Wagon Users Study Group and the workshop on wagon law planned on 7 October 2026
Under the CIT-UIC cooperation agreement, CIT advises UIC and assists its members with specific issues relating to wagon law and the application of the provisions of the General Contract of Use for Wagons (GCU).
A meeting of the Wagon Users Study Group (WUSG) was held online on 25 November 2025.
During this meeting, CIT gave a presentation on the revision of the CUV UR in the context of the OTIF Work Programme for 2025-2027. As a reminder, between May and September 2025 OTIF ran a consultation on the CUV Uniform Rules and on Article 7 on Liability for damage caused by a vehicle. The OTIF secretariat prepared the working document and circulated it on 21 October. One of the documents summarizes all the responses to the wagon law-related part of the consultation ahead of the session of the Ad hoc Committee planned on 2-3 December 2025 in Bern.
During the Wagon Users Study Group meeting on 25 November, CIT presented the results of the OTIF consultation and the potential legal learnings on hidden defects on wagons and the burden of proof under international railway law, explaining the ongoing issues and the current challenges.
For example, on Part B of the OTIF consultation regarding the “liability for loss or damage caused by a vehicle under Article 7 of the CUV UR”, the OTIF secretariat clarifies in the working document that some members and observers support the current provisions of Article 7 of the CUV UR and others would like to see those provisions modified. On the question asking respondents to identify if there are specific categories of damage that have proved more difficult to assess, almost all commented that hidden defects as well as complex defects and defects requiring significant amounts of technical investigation have proved the most difficult to assess. On the question asking if Article 7 CUV sufficiently covers situations where damage is caused by a defect on the wagon, despite the fact that all prescribed maintenance obligations have been fulfilled (for example in the case of latent (hidden) defects) and on the question relating to latent defects, asking if respondents would support the adoption of clearer or additional provisions to cover such cases: some answers indicated that Article 7 of the CUV UR does not sufficiently cover situations where damage is caused by a defect on the wagon and almost all respondents supported the adoption of clearer or additional provisions in Article 7 in relation to latent defects. So the approaches are different, but it seems there is consensus on this point.
The OTIF Secretariat proposed that the Ad hoc Committee could structure the discussion regarding Article 7 CUV based on five “key points” and issues:
- the extent to which the treatment of latent defects should be considered further;
- the treatment of other categories of damage that are difficult to assess;
- fault (and the issue regarding “strict liability”) and the burden and standard of proof;
- alignment with the duties of entities in charge of maintenance; and
- consistency with the operation in practice of the General Contract of Use for Wagons.
In the meantime, CIT attended the 8th session of the OTIF Ad Hoc Committee as an observer on 2–3 December 2025.
After that, during 2026 CIT will play an active role in advocating for the necessary legal and operational adjustments required for the sector to maintain efficient compliance with COTIF law.
CIT will pursue all these topics in 2026 with a dedicated event: the CIT-UIC workshop scheduled on 7 October 2026 in Bern (please save the date already), as the basis for future developments. The workshop will bring stakeholders together to define strategies for navigating both the increasingly complex and overlapping contractual models and the rising judicial scrutiny of national wagon law.