In parallel with the market opening, other EU measures have improved the interoperability and safety of national networks. A more European approach of railway transport is aimed to facilitate cross-border traffic to permit railway transport to exploit the competitive advantage on longer distances and to deliver a single market for the suppliers of rail components at lower costs.
Over the past decade, the growth of passenger traffic by rail has been insufficient to increase its modal share in comparison to cars and aviation. The 6 % modal share of passenger transport for rail in the European Union has remained fairly stable. Rail passenger services have not kept pace with evolving needs in terms of offer or quality.
Therefore, at the beginning of the year, the European Commission launched the proposal for the amendment of Directive 34/2012 of the European parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on the establishment of the single European railway area regarding the opening of the market to domestic railway passenger transport and the governance of railway infrastructure. The proposal is part of the six proposals which form the Fourth Package and continues to be very debated by the European forums together with transport operators and the European railway infrastructure managers.
The new proposal for the amendment of Directive 34/2012 stipulates that railway undertakings will be granted, under equitable, non-discriminatory and transparent conditions, the right of access to railway infrastructure in all Member States for the purpose of operating all types of rail passenger services. Railway undertakings will have the right to pick up passengers at any station and set them down at another. The directive proposal also specifies that “Where an applicant intends to request infrastructure capacity with a view to operating a passenger service, it shall inform the infrastructure managers and the regulatory bodies concerned no less than 18 months before the entry into force of the working timetable to which the request for capacity relates. In order to enable regulatory bodies concerned to assess the potential economic impact on existing public service contracts, regulatory bodies shall ensure that any competent authority that has awarded a rail passenger service on that route defined in a public service contract, any other interested competent authority with the right to limit access under Article 11 and any railway undertaking performing the public service contract on the route of that passenger service is informed without undue delay and at the latest within five days”.
However, the directive proposal also stipulates that “granting the railway operators in the Union the right to access rail infrastructure in all member states to operate internal passenger transport services can have implications for the organization and financing of railway passenger transport services provided as part of a public service obligation”. The Commission believes that Member States should have the option of limiting such right of access where it would compromise the economic equilibrium of those public service contracts and where approval has been given by the relevant regulatory body.
“As the market continues to open up, it is essential that the growing expectations placed on infrastructure managers are taken into account and fulfilled. Over the course of the liberalisation process, infrastructure managers will become the only actors in the rail market who have a system-wide perspective and thereby ensure long-term planning for the entire network. The Commission has recognised this fact and has defined in the fourth railway package the ‘optimal infrastructure manager of the future”.
The infrastructure manager of the future must be given all the tools it needs to satisfy the expectations of the market and, above all, of customers. This means efficiency, investment and customer-oriented performance, believes the European Rail Infrastructure Managers Association (EIM).
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