This application profile enables control of up to 254 lighting units in a rail vehicle or consist. Beside a simple "switch light on/off" functionality the profile provides dimming functionality as well as grouping of lighting units. The specification of common status words and additional diagnostic information eases system integration and maintenance further.

This application profile is part of a virtual multiple-network architecture. The interior rail vehicle lighting control sub-system can be connected via a gateway device to the logical CANopen-based train vehicle control network as defined in CiA 421. CiA 433 does not support pre-defined PDOs (process data objects).