Regulatory framework
RID: dangerous goods by rail
The rail counterpart to ADR: what it is, how it differs, and where rail earns its place for regulated cargo.
Last reviewed 2026-08-28
Read this as orientation, not as authority
This page summarises a regulatory position for planning purposes. It may contain errors or omissions, it is not legal, safety or regulatory advice, and the underlying rules are amended on cycles of their own. Nothing here states what hansa express holds or is approved for. Confirm the current requirement with the competent authority, or ask us about your actual consignment, before you act on it.
What RID is
RID is the Regulation concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail. It forms Appendix C to COTIF, the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail, and is maintained by OTIF, the intergovernmental organisation that administers COTIF from Bern.
Like ADR it is revised on a two-year cycle in parallel with the UN Model Regulations, and like ADR its reach extends beyond international traffic: Directive 2008/68/EC applies it to domestic rail carriage within the European Union.
The relationship with ADR is deliberate and close. Both are built on the same UN Model Regulations, both use the same nine-part structure, and classification, packaging, marking, labelling and documentation are harmonised between them. A consignment correctly classified and packed for road is, in those respects, correctly classified and packed for rail.
Where RID differs from ADR
- No tunnel restriction codes. The ADR tunnel category system is a road provision. Rail tunnels are governed through infrastructure rules and operating restrictions set by the infrastructure manager, not through a code in the dangerous goods list.
- Wagons instead of vehicles. Provisions cover wagons and tank-wagons — construction, marking, and the placement of danger labels on the wagon itself.
- Marshalling and shunting. RID contains operating provisions with no road equivalent, covering how wagons carrying dangerous goods may be shunted, humped and positioned in a train. For explosives this is a real constraint: some classifications may not be loose-shunted, which decides which yards and services can handle them.
- Train composition. Provisions on the position of wagons within a train and separation from other traffic replace the road concept of the transport unit.
- The infrastructure manager as a party. Rail adds a participant with obligations that has no road counterpart, and paths must be arranged with the goods in mind.
Where rail earns its place
Rail suits regulated cargo where the movement is large, repeatable, and between points that both have rail-served, licensed facilities. A block movement avoids the per-vehicle quantity ceilings that shape road planning for explosives, and it removes the tunnel-code problem that reroutes road traffic through the Alps and under estuaries.
It suits the time-definite single consignment much less well. Path availability, terminal opening hours, restrictions on shunting particular classifications, and the need for a compliant siding at both ends all lengthen the planning horizon. The first and last legs are usually still road under ADR, so a rail movement is generally a multi-regime movement rather than a simpler one.
In practice the choice between road and rail for a Class 1 consignment turns less on distance than on whether both ends can actually receive it, and on whether the quantity is large enough that per-vehicle road limits would otherwise force several trips.
Common questions
If a load is compliant under ADR, is it compliant under RID?
For classification, packaging, marking, labelling and the transport document, the two are harmonised and the answer is broadly yes. What does not transfer is the carriage side: wagon provisions, marshalling and shunting restrictions, train composition and the infrastructure manager's own conditions have no road equivalent and are arranged separately.
Are there tunnel restrictions on rail as there are on road?
Not in the ADR sense. Rail has no tunnel restriction code attached to the entry in the dangerous goods list. Restrictions on rail tunnels exist, but they come from the infrastructure manager's operating rules for the specific route, so they are established when the path is arranged rather than read off the classification.
Can explosives be shunted normally in a yard?
Not always. RID restricts how wagons carrying certain classifications may be shunted, and loose or hump shunting is prohibited for some. This is one reason a rail movement of Class 1 depends on which yards and services are on the route, not only on whether the line is open.
Sources and verification
Planning a movement like this?
Send the cargo, the two ends of the lane and the date. If we cannot move it ourselves we will tell you who can — same day.