Register of Infrastructure A plan for the Register of Infrastructure maintained by the European Union Agency for Railways. Submitter's Note: This plan has been inferred and rendered in StratML format by ChatGPT based upon publicly available information published by the European Union Agency for Railways, including the RINF page, the RINF Application Guide, and the ERA Ontology documentation. It has been lightly edited in the form at https://stratml.us/forms/Claude/Part1.html ^^ It was prompted by Kurt Cagle's LinkedIn posting about the shift from XLM to RDF: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kurtcagle_good-article-on-the-shift-from-xml-to-rdf-share-7471229608722444288-aQYZ/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACRo-wBsB6AJXaqtz06r_wMwIYVUJtr0PM European Union Agency for Railways ERA ac670e85-c92d-4c0e-957d-dc1be2925f8a The European Union agency responsible for maintaining the Register of Infrastructure and supporting safe, interoperable railway operations in Europe. European Commission Infrastructure Managers National Registration Entities Railway Undertakings Rail passengers and freight customers A harmonized, machine-readable, and interoperable European railway infrastructure knowledge base supporting safe and efficient cross-border rail operations. 17992607-d168-457f-8e6f-9bd548935290 Provide authoritative, harmonized, and searchable railway infrastructure data, including infrastructure characteristics, capabilities, topology, and route compatibility information. 886e1e78-470a-4ad5-8c6b-9358d3e521c1 Interoperability Railway infrastructure data should be represented consistently across systems, countries, and stakeholders. Accuracy Infrastructure data should be accurate, complete, consistent, and timely. Machine-Readability Infrastructure data should be structured in machine-readable form using RDF and aligned with the ERA Ontology. Data Quality Validation rules should support compliance, data consistency, and correct representation of infrastructure relationships. Transparency Users should be able to discover and query information about the static rail network and its relevant parameters. Infrastructure Information Maintain searchable information regarding the characteristics and capabilities of operational points and sections of lines in the static rail network. 0bd1474d-fe4b-4e4d-884d-2f98b7ae7af5 1 Network Parameters State the values of network parameters for each relevant subsystem or part subsystem in scope for RINF. b278ad87-6d19-44c8-b2ab-8c3b7a2706ca 1.1 Infrastructure Elements Represent core infrastructure elements such as tracks, operational points, sections of line, platforms, bridges, tunnels, and other relevant railway assets. bc8ee628-70d7-4a6a-8ea1-a9d65d3bfe50 1.2 Technical Characteristics Capture technical parameters such as gradient, speed, axle load, energy profiles, train detection systems, signalling, and other characteristics relevant to railway operations. dcf107d7-13d2-46bd-9618-135f109a8067 1.3 Route Compatibility Support assessment of whether a railway vehicle can travel a route between two operational points. 1ea30b96-b33e-4853-abec-38e7fd0957ad 2 Route Compatibility Check Enable route compatibility checking based on infrastructure characteristics, vehicle characteristics, and relevant operational constraints. 70bbf514-f467-4347-8898-46566b38e730 2.1 Railway Undertakings Infrastructure Managers Cross-Border Operations Facilitate safe and interoperable railway operations across national borders by providing harmonized infrastructure data. 3ca372c7-fadc-422f-bfd8-5d3d27be5b71 2.2 Semantic Interoperability Use the ERA Ontology as the foundational semantic model for railway infrastructure data in RINF. de3ce1c3-5a19-4d47-a027-88022559086a 3 The transition from XML Schema validation toward RDF-based semantic models and SHACL validation reflects recognition that railway infrastructure is fundamentally a network of interconnected entities rather than a collection of independent documents. Semantic interoperability enables validation and analysis of relationships among infrastructure elements at network scale. RDF Alignment Structure RINF data using RDF and align it with the ERA Ontology. bba447cc-4b78-45cd-88d1-9d9ae67c0e59 3.1 Alignment with RDF enables infrastructure information to be represented as a knowledge graph supporting discovery, integration, inference, and interoperability across organizational and national boundaries. Controlled Terminology Use controlled taxonomies and SKOS concepts to standardize terminology and ensure consistent interpretation of infrastructure attributes. 071152f2-c602-48c4-8442-8de29ae6637f 3.2 Topology Representation Represent railway topology, including network elements and relationships among them, to support graph-based analysis and validation. 9db6bbbe-4297-462d-83dc-d74d29cdba32 3.3 Data Quality Ensure RINF data are accurate, complete, consistent, timely, and compliant with applicable RINF requirements. 93a507e9-d544-4e24-b0ed-82a10dc237eb 4 Data quality depends not only upon the correctness of individual records but also upon the validity of relationships among infrastructure elements. Graph-based validation techniques enable constraints to be evaluated across the network as a whole. SHACL Validation Use SHACL rules to enforce mandatory parameters, data types, formats, and conditional dependencies. f76c98c5-1e8e-4a5d-9381-5c3e8ed20e8c 4.1 Unlike XML Schema validation, SHACL supports validation of relationships among entities represented in a graph. This capability enables detection of inconsistencies that may not be observable within individual records or documents. Provider Verification Encourage infrastructure managers to define verification processes and procedures for ensuring the accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness of submitted data. d18d1eb5-2b72-4694-bde4-5089bd52a483 4.2 Infrastructure Managers Change Notification Support user notification when RINF data change, upon demand through subscription. 4e164496-44aa-4cc2-9136-7e5c20ff6dde 4.3 Governance Maintain governance arrangements for RINF implementation, operation, data submission, and evolution of the ERA Vocabulary. 3d811638-1559-4d7c-ad40-b9efdf420405 5 Roles and Responsibilities Clarify responsibilities of ERA, Member States, infrastructure managers, and national registration entities under the RINF Regulation. f95ed82c-35bf-4be4-a0ab-6a6d7aa2929d 5.1 While RINF identifies organizations responsible for infrastructure information and its governance, the StratML Part 2 standard provides a complementary capability for explicitly documenting stakeholder roles, responsibilities, relationships, and performance indicators associated with goals and objectives. Vocabulary Change Control Manage changes to the ERA Vocabulary through a controlled process involving change requests, expert working groups, technical review, and formal approval before publication. 77608e00-9a84-4ab4-a40e-c26fbc33960b 5.2 Stakeholder Participation Support participation by national registration entities, experts, and representative bodies in implementation and future development of RINF. 520dcf6c-e954-484b-9083-bdfe7460386d 5.3 2026-06-13 https://www.era.europa.eu/domains/registers/rinf_en Owen Ambur Owen.Ambur@verizon.net