RAILWAY CAPACITY REGULATION RISKS FRAGMENTING EUROPE’S RAIL NETWORK
The Council’s Land Transport Working Party met on 31 October to continue discussions on the proposed Regulation on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the Single European Railway Area. Delegates reviewed the latest compromise text presented by the Danish Presidency.
On the issue of authorisations related to the three frameworks that the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) will be required to adopt, the Presidency suggested granting ENIM three months to address any shortcomings identified by the Performance Advisory Committee, before the Commission would be able to adopt implementing acts ensuring that any shortcomings related to the three required frameworks (1) Capacity management; (2) Cross-border coordination of traffic, disruption, and crisis management; and (3) Performance assessment) are addressed first.
While progress was made on several points, including military mobility and the Channel Tunnel exception, the question of penalties remains the most divisive. The main disagreement concerns both the method of calculation, now proposed to be based on the average cost of track access charges, and the scope of possible exemptions.
The European Commission, the European Parliament and several Member States, led by France, strongly oppose provisions that would allow infrastructure managers to cancel train paths outside the deadlines set in Annex I.3 (relating to planned works) without incurring penalties, even in cases where the timing of capacity restrictions is beyond their control.
The Council Working Party will meet again on 6 November to finalise its negotiating mandate ahead of interinstitutional negotiations with the Parliament, expected on 18 November.
In response, twelve rail associations sent an open letter to the Council and Parliament warning that the current compromise risks fragmenting the European network and leaving rail freight behind. They call for more and higher-quality train paths, consistent penalties across networks, and enforceable harmonisation measures. Key proposals include removing penalty caps, ensuring system-wide coverage, and preserving operators’ rights to compensation for economic losses.