The Rolling Stock Registry operates within the international legal framework of the Luxembourg Protocol (“Protocol”) under the Cape Town Convention (“Convention”). The Convention and the Protocol increase certainty and reduce risks in asset-based financing for the acquisition and use of railway rolling stock through a legal framework providing international recognition and enforcement of creditors' rights. 

The Protocol covers rolling stock running above, on, or under a permanent guideway - high-speed to light rail trains, freight locomotives and wagons to trams and subways, people movers at airports to gantries and cranes running on rails at ports. 

The Protocol introduces a permanent, unique identifier for rolling stock known as the URVIS identifier. The URVIS identifier enhances certainty and transparency when registering interests or searching in the Rolling Stock Registry. The URVIS identifier aligns with the work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Inland Transport Committee and its adoption the Model Rules on the Permanent Identification of Railway Rolling Stock in 2023. The Rolling Stock Registry will be the official issuer of URVIS identifiers. 

The Protocol is enforced under the stewardship of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) with the vital support of the Rail Working Group and other industry and government and non-government organizations.