Data sources
Every number in the tool comes from a named external source, is derived from one by documented arithmetic, or is an assumption labelled as one. This page lists the sources document by document. The calibration pages explain how each was turned into the parameters the model reads.
The source register behind this page was last reviewed end to end on 11 August 2026.
Links are recorded exactly as the calibration found them, so a handful now land on a moved page: infrastructure managers reorganise their tariff sections between timetable years. The document title and publisher are the durable part of a citation. Where a link fails, search the publisher's site for the title.
How a value is classified
The calibration records classify every value they produce. These words appear throughout the documentation:
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| sourced | Read from a named document at a named location: a section of a network statement, a row of a price list |
| derived | Computed from sourced values by arithmetic that is written down |
| benchmark | Taken from a comparable country or a pan-European statistic because the country's own figure is not published |
| assumed | Chosen because no source exists. Always carries a stated low–high band |
| not levied | The country genuinely does not charge this. Different from missing |
| missing | Nobody has researched it yet. Never silently treated as zero |
The last distinction is made since country without a calibrated charge is priced without that component, and the database tests assert that such a column stays distinguishable from an entered number.
The railway itself
OpenStreetMap, routed through a self-hosted OpenRailRouting engine, a rail-aware fork of GraphHopper. It supplies the track geometry, the distances, and which countries a route passes through. Gauge is respected: standard, Iberian, Russian and Irish gauge route on separate profiles, so a route cannot cross a break of gauge.
Existing night trains
The Open Night Train Database (ONTD), a community-maintained record of services running in Europe today, compiled by Juri Maier and others at Back-on-Track. It supplies the existing-route context in the gallery, part of the stop catalogue, and the observed timetable slack used to calibrate schedule buffers. The database itself is public.
Energy consumption
Deutsche Bahn Trassenfinder, an official tool that returns the technical energy consumption of a specified train over a specified route. Querying it across many routes and train configurations produced the dataset the energy model is fitted to.
Track access
Every European infrastructure manager is legally required to publish a network statement setting out what it charges and on what basis. These are the source for track access.
Cross-check, conversion and method sources.
| Document | Publisher |
|---|---|
| Schienennetz-Nutzungsbedingungen 2026 | ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG |
| BK10-25-0067 Anlage 2 — approved consolidated INB 2026 | Bundesnetzagentur |
| Declaración sobre la Red 2027 (NS ADIF V1) | Adif / Adif Alta Velocidad |
| DRR 2027 Annexe 5.1.2 | SNCF Réseau |
| Network Statement 2027 (June 2026) | RFI |
| IRG-Rail Track Access Charges survey 2025 (updated) | IRG-Rail |
| IRG-Rail 14th Annual Market Monitoring Report (main report and dataset) | IRG-Rail |
| IRG-Rail 9th Annual Market Monitoring Report | IRG-Rail |
| Overview of Charging Practices for the Minimum Access Package in Europe | IRG-Rail |
| ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates | European Central Bank |
| Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area | European Central Bank |
| Eisenbahnregulierungsgesetz §37 and ECJ ruling C-770/24 on the Trassenpreisbremse | Bundestag / Court of Justice of the European Union |
Traction electricity
What the operator pays for the electricity itself, as distinct from the path. Some comes out of the same network statements, the rest from supply tariffs and from European statistics where no rail-specific price is published. See traction electricity.
Statistics, tax treatment and escalation. These do not price one country. They underpin the benchmark, the tax reconciliation and the conversion to 2032 prices.
| Document | Publisher |
|---|---|
| EU-Vergleich Besteuerung von Eisenbahn-Fahrstrom | Allianz pro Schiene |
| Transport taxes and charges in Europe (4.K83) and accompanying database | CE Delft for the European Commission |
| Prices of fuels purchased by non-domestic consumers, Tables 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 | Department for Energy Security and Net Zero |
| Electricity price components for non-household consumers (nrg_pc_205_c) | Eurostat |
| Services exempt from VAT | Skattestyrelsen (Danish Tax Agency) |
Shunting, stabling and station charges
Shunting movements, overnight stabling and the per-call station fee. See shunting and stabling.
| Country | Document | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | Schienennetz-Nutzungsbedingungen 2026 | ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG |
| Belgium | Network Statement 2027 (version 30 June 2026) | Infrabel |
| Bulgaria | Charges and Prices, Annex 5.3.2 v.06 | NRIC (National Railway Infrastructure Company) |
| Germany | Anlagenpreissystem 2027 — Entgelte für Serviceeinrichtungen | DB InfraGO |
| Denmark | Network Statement 2027 | Banedanmark |
| Spain | Declaración sobre la Red 2027 (NS ADIF V1) | Adif / Adif Alta Velocidad |
| Greece | Network Statement 2026 (EN final) | OSE |
| Croatia | Izvješće o mreži / Network Statement 2027 | HŽ Infrastruktura |
| Hungary | Network Statement 2026-2027, Annex 5.2-6 | VPE / MÁV |
| Italy | Network Statement 2027 | RFI |
| Norway | Network Statement 2027 (EN v1.1) | Bane NOR |
| Poland | Network Statement 2026/2027 Annex 9.1 (SMK) | PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe |
| Portugal | 1st Addenda to Network Statement 2027 | Infraestruturas de Portugal |
| Slovenia | Program omrežja / Network Statement 2027 | SŽ-Infrastruktura |
Cross-check and method sources. These underpin the market top-up and the per-country labour index, not any published tariff.
| Document | Publisher |
|---|---|
| Night train business case model, 2030 scenario (no public link) | Nox Mobility (publisher TO_VERIFY) |
| Nachtzugstudie — Wirtschaftlichkeit von Nachtzugverbindungen | Ramboll for BMDV |
Terrain and buffers
How much slack a country's timetabling practice carries, and how much a route's terrain slows a train. No infrastructure manager publishes either, so this domain has no per-country tariff document behind it. The figures come from observed timetables and from pan-European statistics.
| Document | Publisher |
|---|---|
| Ninth report on monitoring development of the rail market (RMMS), COM(2024) | European Commission (DG MOVE) |
| UIC Leaflet 451-1: Timetable recovery margins to guarantee timekeeping | International Union of Railways |
| Open Night Train Database — observed trip timings | Back-on-Track |
| Corridor-by-corridor topographic assessment of the target network (no public link) | Back-on-Track EU, internal to this repository |
Rolling stock and operating costs
Coach and locomotive prices, crew pay, maintenance and overhead. There is no equivalent of a network statement here. Vehicle prices are commercial, so the calibration triangulates from annual reports, procurement awards and trade press.
Studies and methodology
| Document | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| UIC Study Night Trains 2.0. New opportunities by HSR? | DB International GmbH for UIC | 2013 |
| Nachtzugstudie BMDV — Präsentation Ergebnisse (no public link) | BMDV / consortium | 2025 |
| Studie Bilanz von Nachtzugverkehren | Ramboll for BMV | 2025 |
| Machbarkeitsuntersuchung: Berlin als Drehkreuz eines europäischen Nachtzugnetzes | Ramboll for SenUMVK Berlin | 2023 |
| Long-distance cross-border passenger rail services | Steer & KCW for European Commission DG MOVE | 2021 |
| Potentialabschätzung von Nachtzügen in Europa (Masterarbeit) | Janne Schönerstedt | 2025 |
| Aktualisierung der Kosten- und Wertansätze der Bundesverkehrswegeplanung (FE VB970452, Schlussbericht Dez 2024) | TTS TRIMODE / Intraplan / Planco / SSP Consult for BMDV | 2024 |
| Back on Track Base Night Train Model (no public link) | Back-on-Track Europe | 2025 |
Vehicle prices, orders and procurement
| Document | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Norske tog FLIRT Nordic Express, 17 × 8-car, NOK 8bn (2023) | Norske tog / Stadler | 2023 |
| Caledonian Sleeper Mk5, 75 cars, £150M (2015) | Serco / CAF via press | 2015 |
| Trenitalia Intercity Notte framework ≤370 cars €732.5M; first call 70 cars / €138.59M (2023) | Trenitalia / Škoda Group / Titagarh Firema | 2023 |
| Trafikverket night train procurement (2025 failed round; 2026 Talgo award; SJ refit) | Trafikverket / Talgo / Siemens | 2026 |
| ČD loco tender figures (2021 lease framework; 2026 dual-mode bid; ComfortJet) (no public link) | ČD / Siemens via zdopravy.cz | 2026 |
| DB Gebrauchtzug channel evidence (Bieterverfahren; 73 multi-voltage coaches offered) | DB Regio | 2026 |
| ÖBB introduces Siemens Nightjet fleet (Matthä interview) | Railway Gazette International | 2023 |
| ÖBB Orders 20 Additional Nightjets (ÖBB statement on contract volume) | Railvolution | 2021 |
| ÖBB 2016 acquisition of DB City Night Line fleet (42 WLABmz sleepers + 15 couchette cars for EUR 40M) | press reports (secondary) | 2016 |
Operator accounts and disclosures
| Document | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| ELL GmbH & Co. KG Jahresabschluss 2021 | Bundesanzeiger | 2022 |
| RDC Deutschland Jahresabschluss 2021 | Bundesanzeiger | 2022 |
| Italo S.p.A. Annual Report 2019 (EN) | Italo / NTV | 2020 |
| Valuation European Sleeper — Q1 2026 (no public link) | European Sleeper / valuation advisor | 2026 |
| European Sleeper Sharefunding 2026 pitch deck | European Sleeper | 2026 |
| ÖBB annual report 2025 | ÖBB Holding AG | 2026 |
| SNCF Groupe: Au cœur de la production d'un train de nuit (Intercités de nuit fleet renovation figures) | SNCF Groupe | 2023 |
| Trafikverket night train procurement Sweden (TRV 2020/81418) | Trafikverket | 2020-2022 |
| Intercités de nuit (TET) cost audits / ART reports France (no public link) | ART / Cour des comptes / DGITM | — |
| Italo/NTV 2022–23 figures via financial press (no public link) | press | 2024 |
Crew pay
| Document | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| DB–EVG Tarifabschluss 2023 (flat-rate steps) | DB/EVG via press | 2023 |
| DB-Tarifrunde 2025 (percentage steps) | DB/EVG via press | 2025 |
| SJ AB official pay scale (Seko agreement) (no public link) | SJ / Seko | 2025 |
| ÖBB careers pages (driver) | ÖBB | 2026 |
| ÖBB Karriere Zugbegleiter:in | ÖBB | 2026 |
| France driver salary aggregators (no public link) | aggregators (multiple) | 2026 |
| Italy driver salary aggregators (no public link) | aggregators (multiple) | 2026 |
| France chef de bord aggregators (no public link) | aggregators (multiple) | 2026 |
| Italy capotreno aggregators (no public link) | aggregators (multiple) | 2026 |
Escalation and route geometry
| Document | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, December 2025 | European Central Bank | 2025 |
| BoT Open Night Train Database — route geometry sample | Back-on-Track Europe | 2026 |
Emissions
Per-mode emission factors, recorded in the model as EEA TERM 2020 and read as EU-average 2018 figures per passenger-kilometre. The mode-shift assumptions layered on top of them are ours, not the EEA's. See emissions.
| Document | Publisher |
|---|---|
| Transport and environment report 2020 — "Train or plane?" (EEA Report 19/2020) | European Environment Agency |
Currency and price year
Sources are published in different currencies and different price years. Both conversions happen once, in the calibration notebooks, at a pinned exchange-rate snapshot and with a stated escalation to the 2032 evaluation year. From that point on every number in the database is plain euros at 2032 prices, and no calculation module or seeding script sees a currency or a conversion.
A caution about country figures
A number attached to a country is not automatically that country's own published tariff. In the facility and route-context domains especially it is often a European average adjusted for the country's tier, because no national figure is published. The calibration pages say which is which, per domain.
Found a mistake?
This documentation describes a model that is still being built, and some of it will be wrong. If a number looks off, a source is missing, or an explanation does not hold up, tell us — it reaches the working group with the page you were reading.