CORPUS is a rail industry database, managed by Atos/Worldline. It holds the codes that are used in a variety of retail and operating systems. For PMS, the codes allocated to passenger locations, ticket machines and retail outlets are the principal interest. Here’s how a sample of that location data looks in CORPUS:
NLC: National Location Code. A 6-digit number originally used for accounting, payroll, revenue and cost attribution. The main NLC consists of a 4-digit number suffixed by 00 and each location can have up to 99 subsidiary locations where the last two digits are in the range 01-99. The NLC for a railway station must always be a main NLC and in some retail systems this will be abbreviated to the first 4 digits, e.g. 106900, as above for Northampton will be 1069 when printed on a ticket.
As the pool of unallocated main NLCs is very low many new locations will be given NLCs that have been used in the past but whose original use is now redundant. This may lead to some discrepancies between descriptions in CORPUS and PMS until the latter system is edited to show the new function.
The NLC is the principal index in CORPUS so the allocation of any other code type for a location will also result in the creation of an NLC if that location does not already exist in the database.
STANOX: Station Number. A 5-digit code used in TOPS and some other rail operating systems to identify stations and other physical rail locations. Not used in PMS or in the retail environment.
TIPLOC: Timing Point Location. A code of 4-7 alpha-numeric characters, describing any timing point used for timetable planning: railway station, junction, sidings, depot, freight yard, level crossing, etc; also some non-rail locations such as bus stops and ferry ports.
3-Alpha: Also known as a CRS Code. Originally developed for seat and sleeper reservations purposes, 3-Alpha codes are now used in a variety of retail systems to identify railway stations and other passenger locations.
3-Alpha codes beginning with X are used for locations other than railway stations; mostly junctions, depots, etc, but also some bus stops and ports (however, not all bus and ferry locations use X series codes).
Codes beginning with Z are used either for London Underground and Docklands Light Railway stations, or for some internet-based ticket issuing locations.
UIC: Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer. A 5-digit code that is based on the NLC and which is used for train planning in Europe-wide situations. The UIC field in PMS Location data is not created from the CORPUS code, but from the PMS Location Code. In many applications the UIC Code will be preceded by a 2-digit or 4-digit country code - which are 70 and 0070 for Great Britain.
Most passenger locations have one NLC, one TIPLOC and one 3-Alpha code, and these are cross-referenced in the data that CORPUS exports to other systems. However, approximately 150 locations make use of more than one TIPLOC; this could be because a station is split into different sections for operating reasons, or because there is a need to include a timing location such as a junction to show passing times for fares routing purposes. Where this occurs the additional TIPLOCs are linked to the NLC in the PMS location data, e.g. for Northampton NMPTN is used in train planning for trains calling at platforms 1-3 and for rail-replacement buses, but for trains using platforms 4-5 NMPTBAY is used instead.
Eleven stations have two 3-Alpha codes for a number of reasons, but for most passenger retail purposes only the major code is used: for instance Tamworth has TAM and TAH, but TAM is the only valid code in most systems.
With the exception of TIPLOCs, all the above codes are maintained by the CORPUS controller, who may be contacted via the Rail Operations Help Desk: Servicedesk.railoperations@atos.net. As that Help Desk provides first-line support for a number of different systems add “CORPUS” to the subject heading of any e-mail to ensure that it is redirected to the correct team.
TIPLOCs are allocated by Network Rail and then added to the CORPUS database. As these are often the first code to be allocated for a new station this will also trigger the creation of the NLC. Network Rail’s Planning Systems Support team may be contacted at: PSS-team@networkrail.co.uk.
Alpha-numeric codes in PMS for Private Settlement, Clusters, Travel Agents, etc; are not maintained in CORPUS. Instead, they are allocated by LENNON.