New norms on the contracts for the use of vehicles were introduced starting July, 1, 2006, when the Convention concerning the international carriage by rail (COTIF) came into force. In compliance with the uniform norms on the contracts of use for vehicles in rail international traffic (CUV), attached to the convention in cause, wagon keepers are no longer required to register their wagons to a railway undertaking.
The former RIV agreement between railway undertakings has ceased application and was partially replaced by a new, private and voluntary agreement (the general contract of use for wagons – CGU) between railway undertakings and wagon keepers, which entrusts the responsibility for the maintenance of the wagons to their owners. “To reflect these amendments and to facilitate the implementation of Directive 2004/49/EC on the safety certification of railway undertakings, we should define the notion of “keeper” and “maintenance responsible entity” and also underline the relation between these entities and railway undertakings”, pointed out the European Commission in 2008 in the directive on the safety of the Community’s railways. The liberalisations of the European railways and the COTIF Convention have imposed a changing trend in the regime of exchange and use of cargo wagons.
Thus, in order to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of rail freight transport, wagon keepers and railway undertakings agreed in 2006 to apply the provisions of the General Contract Concerning the Use of Wagons (GCU). The contract stipulates the conditions for handing over the wagons for the use of railway undertakings as means of transport in national and international rail transport and under the COTIF norms in force. However, commercial conditions for the use of wagons are not stipulated in the present contract.
What does the contract stipulate?
The provisions of the present contract apply to wagon keepers and railway undertakings as users of wagons. Use of wagons includes the loaded run and the empty run, as well as cases in which the wagon is in the custody of a signatory railway undertaking. Use and custody begin when the wagon is accepted by the railway undertaking and end with the handover of the wagon to the keeper or to some other authorised party, for example another signatory railway undertaking, the contractual consignee of the goods carried or a third party authorised to take delivery of the wagon. Admission will be effective from the first day of the following quarter of the year, provided that the application has been received by the GCU Bureau at least one month before. The GCU Bureau will publish an updated list of signatories every three months on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 of each year. The keeper will ensure that his wagons are technically admitted in accordance with the European legislation in force and that they remain so throughout the period of their use. The contract simplifies procedures as it exempts contracting parties from concluding several bilateral contracts for ensuring the interoperability of cargo wagons and the liberalisation of European railway markets. After a series of negotiations which lasted two years between the International Union of Railways (UIC), the International Union of Private Wagons (UIP) and the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), the parties have reached a full consensus, so that currently, there are over 600,000 inside the scope of the General Contract of Use, more than half of which are owned by UIC members. The contract currently includes 400 signatories. The accession to the “General Contract for use of wagons can only be total and without reserves. Partial accession will not be accepted”, the members of the three signatory associations believe.
Those which have accessed the General Contract for use of cargo wagons have expressed their option for the certification at European level of maintenance sites for cargo wagons; they have also demanded that the European insurance market will enable the establishment of competitive prices for the activities related to railway transport.
by Elena Ilie
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