European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

EIA Round Table « Development of North-South Freightways »

Port of Copenhagen, 30 October 2002

Prerequisites for competitive rail freight services

in Europe

Jan Scherp
European Commission
Directorate General for Energy and Transport
Unit “Railway Transport and Interoperability”

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Overview

 What are the EU transport and rail policy objectives

 What do we have achieved in terms of modernising
the regulatory framework for rail freight in the EU
 What obstacles do operators of international rail
freight services still face
 What measure must be taken to make the new
regulatory framework for competitive rail freight
services operational

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Transport White Paper 2001

Transport policy objectives:
 Securing the efficiency of the European Union
transport system
 Aiming at a high level of safety
 Striving towards sustainability of transport
 Achieve by 2010 the same modal shares as in 1998:
 Rail has to absorb a greater share of expected increase of
transport volumes (freight: + 38% by 2010, base 1998)
 Effective measures to increase competitiveness of rail are
needed
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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Transport White Paper 2001

Most important measures for rail
 Revitalisation of the rail sector
Establishment of an Internal Market for rail services in
Europe
 Development of Trans-European transport Networks
Concentrate European Union funding on elimination of
bottlenecks
 Coherent infrastructure charging across all transport
sectors
Objective: fair and efficient pricing in all countries of the
European Union
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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Importance of international freight in Europe

International freight traffic will continue to grow in significance in the years ahead.

%
80
National Freight Traffic
+66%
International Freight Traffic
60

40 +33% +32%

+22%
20

0
Cautious Optimistic
Scenario Scenario
2010 2010 Sources: DB Cargo, VLS, BVU,
Forecast 1998

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport
What has been achieved … and needs still to be
implemented
 The EU regulatory framework has to cater for European
business strategies in the rail sector
 The experience made with the political concept of
European Rail Freight Freeways has been transferred into
generally applicable EU regulatory framework (rail
infrastructure package Directives: 2001/12-14)
 From 15 March 2003: open access to TERFN for
international rail freight services, from 2008 access to the
whole network
 Transparency on access conditions through publication of
Network Statement

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport
What has been achieved … and needs still to be
implemented
 Effective separation of essential functions (e.g.
infrastructure charging, train path allocation) from rail
service provision is important for non-discrimination
 National regulatory bodies ensuring non-discriminatory
access (appeal body, observation of competition)
 International co-operation of infrastructure managers is
essential for competitive international services:
 Establishment of Rail Net Europe on 24 September 2002
 setting up One-Stop-Shops and co-ordinating international train
paths
 revision clause: possible amendments after 15.3.2003
 Technical harmonisation through interoperability
Directives (conventional rail systems) in the making
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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

What practical problems remain

 International open access services are possible now on
certain corridors but problems subsist (a few examples):
 Interoperability/ATC
 Administrative obstacles such as obtaining a
licence/insurance coverage and safety certificate
 Track access charges vary strongly from country to country
 Access to local facilities (marshalling yards, fuelling
stations) sometimes problematic
 Access to border stations/facilities (especially in Eastern
Europe) refused due to old border traffic agreements
 Confidentiality of commercial data when applying for
capacity sometimes not ensured

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Challenges ahead
 Commission proposes (voluntary) measures to make the
infrastructure package Directives fully operational (I):
 common dates for Network Statement (NS)
publication and deadline for train paths requests
 regulatory bodies should ensure a fair arbitration
between conflicting requests for facility capacity
 Co-operation of regulatory bodies shall ensure non-
discriminatory access for international services
 European Commission will use its powers (Art. 10(4) of Dir.
2001/12) to ensure fair access after consultation of regulatory
committee

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Challenges ahead
 Commission proposes (voluntary) measures to make the
infrastructure package Directives fully operational (II):
 standardised rail licence document (e.g. languages,
insurance coverage) to be proposed (e.g. Commission
Decision)
 common criteria for the mutual recognition of safety
certificates to be elaborated
 standard formats for track access contracts (Art. 10(5)
Dir. 2001/12) and framework agreements on capacity
(Art. 17 Dir. 2001/14) to be proposed by infrastructure
managers and to be published in Network Statement

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Challenges ahead
 Adoption of second rail package (of January 2002)
 Open access for all kinds of rail freight services
 Safety Directive
 Amendment of interoperability Directives
 European Railway Agency
 Mandate to negotiate EU accession to COTIF

 Technical discussions in Council well advanced

 EP votes amendments of 1st reading in November 2002
 Political agreement at transport Council in December
2002 possible

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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Résumé

• Rail infrastructure package and 2nd railway package (if

adopted) establish regulatory prerequisites for rail freight
revitalisation in the EU
• Specific measures to ensure high level of rail freight service
quality required (e.g. Regulation on compensations in case of
non-compliance with contractual quality requirements)
• Crucial: coherent and quick implementation of European
Directives in Member States
• Crucial: the rail market needs entrepreneurs pursuing
European business strategies by using the opportunities of the
European regulatory framework
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 European Commission - Directorate General for Energy and Transport

For further information on EU rail policy:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/rail/intro/intro_en.htm

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