The relatively poor performance of the rail in the past ten years reflects a low level of efficiency and quality of rail services compared to other transport modes. According to the latest available studies, this situation can be attributed to the presence of several obstacles which hamper market access and expansion of service providers, hindering thereby the internal market for rail services. In this context, the main objective of the Fourth Railway Package consists in improving the quality and efficiency of railway transport services by removing the still-existing barriers, thus encouraging the performance of the railway sector and consequently, competitiveness and economic growth. These barriers can be grouped into four categories, technical, administrative, institutional and legislative barriers.
“A second set of problems which prevent the rail market from developing its full potential are issues relating to the governance of infrastructure managers. Since infrastructure managers are natural monopolies, they do not always react to the needs of the market and its users, thus hindering the performance of the sector as a whole. In a number of Member States infrastructure managers are unable to fulfil their tasks, since their functions are separated between different bodies. Moreover, the current legal framework has not led to improved cross-border cooperation among infrastructure managers,” the Commission points out.
The four above-mentioned obstacles are approached through the initiatives included in the legislative proposals of the Fourth Railway Package. Thus, the legislative proposals refer to the actual method of institutional organisation of the railway market, to the approach of legislative barriers regarding the access to the domestic passenger transport market, as well as to the initiatives that refer to the role of the European Railway Agency (ERA), intero-perability and safety.
The current situation proves to be difficult for the railway sector and for the competitiveness of the railways as transport mode. Authorisation and certification procedures are expensive and time-consuming. The entire process of authorisation of vehicles in Europe can last more than two years and can thus block assets worth EUR 1.2 Billion which wait to be authorised and cannot be put in service. Authorisation and certification procedures have to be simplified as fast as possible and the European Railway Agency (ERA) has to gradually become a one-stop shop for authorisation and certification. In order to meet this objective, an evolution plan has to exist for the increase of ERA’s competences and clear responsibilities for a single certificate for safety and authorisation of vehicles.
The three basic pillars of the Fourth Railway Package clearly stipulate the establishment of consequent authorisation procedures for interoperability and railway safety (known as the Technical Pillar), the liberalisation of the domestic passenger market and the establishment of better structures and authorities for infrastructure managers.
The lack of standardisation, the existence of a highly specialized rolling stock fleet, the resulted investment costs, as well as the costs of entering and leaving the railway transport market, are major problems for the single transport market. Authorisation procedures are long and difficult and safety certification fees are expensive. But if the domestic passenger transport market is liberalised, opened to competition, significant measures will be necessary to achieve interoperability. One of these measures is transforming the European Railway Authority so that it could become the central body for standardisation and interoperabi-lity.
The Technical Pillar of the Fourth Railway Package was brought to discussion for the first time on 29 May by the MEPs during the reunion of the Committee for Transport of the European Parliament (TRAN). They discussed the safety and interoperability of European railways, as well as the reforming of several legislative texts and enhancing the role of the European Railway Agency.
Shortly after the debates and the exchange of opinions between the MEPs, “the European voices” of the railway companies and industry have also expressed their opinion about the Technical Pillar.
Thus, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE) have expressed their support for the Technical Pillar of the Fourth Railway Package and appreciate the intense efforts of the European Parliament and of the Council to improve it. Consequently, the two associations encourage the Council to assign the principles agreed through the Interoperability Directive to the Directive on Railway Safety. Based on what has already been achieved, the railway sector demands the European institutions to adopt the technical pillar before the European elections in 2014.
The two associations have expressed their hope that the European Parliament will continue to observe the adopted calendar and that the members of the European Parliament will make possible the adoption of this technical pillar as fast as possible. Railway transport operators and the railway industry have demanded the reformation of the authorisation process and safety certification since 2010. Both demands have been broadly discussed over the past three years with European institutions and member states. After years of detailed and comprehensive debates, CER and UNIFE ask the European Parliament and the Council to act without delay.
In concrete terms, CER and UNIFE support the approach which underlines the fact that ERA should issue the authorisation for a rail vehicle, according to the one-stop shop attributions; but, since the Agency will be the decision-maker, it will be supported by national railway safety authorities. Moreover, both associations believe that the authorisation of a vehicle in Europe has to indicate “the scope”. The European rail sector is in urgent need of the technical pillar in order to remain competitive in and for Europe – as transport mode and sustainable industry.
“The discussions about the Technical Pillar are now heading into the right direction and need to be accelerated”, commented CER Executive Director Libor Lochman.
“The sector has long been calling for what the European Commission has proposed in the Technical Pillar”, believes UNIFE Director General Philippe Citroën.
The technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package is a fundamental landmark in setting the Single European Railway Area and has to be universally implemented by all parties. The rapid implementation of the technical pillar is a “green light” to the European railway sector and to the establishment of the Single European Railway Area.
The International Union of Wagon Kee-pers (UIP), the European Passenger Train and Traction Operating Lessors Association (EPTTOLA) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) wish to confirm their strong support for the Technical Pillar of the Fourth Railway Package and stress the importance and urgency for reaching an agreement between the European Council and the European Parliament.
UIP Secretary General Gilles Peterhans stated: “If we want one day to see a competitive rail freight market at European level, the streamlining of administrative procedures, the setting of clear roles and responsibilities and the removing of superfluous national regulation are the priorities we all need to care about at hand.”
EPTTOLA President Tim Gilbert commented: “The proposals in the technical pillar, along with the detail recommendations for simplifying and speeding up authorisations, are essential for the industry”.
“The regional and suburban rail operators of UITP support the enactment of the technical pillar with an emphasis on a clear and undisputable exclusion from under the scope of the legislation of the functionally separated local, suburban and regional passenger railway lines”, concluded UITP Secretary General Alain Flausch.
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