Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to report parliamentary committee draft

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

RemovedBoth the European Green Deal and the Sustainable smart mobility strategy highlighted the urgent need for decarbonising the European transport sector. As one of the most efficient forms of both passenger and freight transport, railway plays a vital role in these efforts. It is therefore key to use the existing infrastucture in the most efficient way and try to reap the best possible capacity gains of up to 4% as the Commission estimates in her impact assessment. The proposal of the Commission is very welcome in this regard.

RemovedToday, problems of congestion of rail tracks, poor punctuality, missed transfers and speed are endemic. The proposed legislation will allow for more optimal use of the rail tracks and increase punctuality and reliability. The provision of more flexibility for last minute path allocation should attract more freight to rail. At the same time, passengers are expected to benefit from reliable long-term planning and earlier bookings of capacity, hence using the overall network capacity in a more optimal way.

RemovedIt is welcomed that the Commission has opted to take as a basis for her own proposals the rail sector’s own initiative, the Timetable Redesign Project (TTR), which has already proved to be of great value and is carried by European entities, including RNE. It is also positive that the Commission tries to give more flexibility to freight services by introducing a rolling timetable, which this report introduces a definition to. The introduction of a more flexible approach to capacity allocation will enable more ad-hoc paths and ensure that no paths are held without being used. Still, the balance between passenger and freight transport remains a delicate balance on a mixed network that will have to be addressed by this Regulation.

RemovedThis report is reinforcing the Commission’s stance in that it reinforces the infrastructure managers obligation to offer alternatives wherever possible, including cross-networks in order to accomodate capacity applicants. Also, the Commission’s approach is reinforced by the possibility for clock face timetabling that some Member States have opted to introduce by strengthening the notion of pre-allocated and systemic train paths. Furthermore, the notion of ‘force majeure’ has been tightened to avoid over-use. Clear rules under which circumstances infrastructure managers can cancel capacity without compensation are outlined in the text.

RemovedThe report agrees with Commission on the inclusion of socioeconomic and environmental criteria to help in conflict situations. The sector highlights difficulties, that the report addresses by tasking the Commission with the development of a delegated act. There are countries, foremost Sweden, who have already introduced such criteria, so experience is already being made. This report widenes the application of the criteria to also be applied in the planning phases to involve socioeconomic and environmental concerns into the use of the infrastructure from start.

RemovedThe report also introduces a definition of ‘railway infrastructure capacity’ and points to the fact that capacity can be influenced by many more aspects than just efficient capacity allocation. There are a number of important issues for both Commission, Member states and the sector’s companies to focus on to help increase capacity further. The rail capacity regulation alone is not sufficient to address EU’s ambitious goals.

RemovedThe overall Europeanisation of systems and procedures is introduced and endorsed throughout the text, to ensure the inclusion of multi-modal solutions, multi-country rerouting and making long-distance multi-network applications easier. The creation of a European Rail International Capacity Allocation body (ERICA) in Article 57a is meant to reinforce this notion.

RemovedStable and reliable infrastructure financing for maintenance, renewal and new construction is highlighted, as well as the need to identify infrastructure enhancements needs on a multi-network level. Stable infrastructure financing is a key condition for capacity allocation. The report insists that planning of construction and maintenance as well as a steady committment to financing them is needed, whilst also ensuring bottom up information, asking that capacity analysis is used in decisions where to construct, maintain or upgrade needed infrastructure.

RemovedFurthermore, the position of European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) is adjusted in the report, obliging the ENIM to set up and consult with the European Operational Stakeholder Platform (EOSP), and including other stakeholders too that are listed in the new Article 55a. Another important aspect is that the report does not agree with Commission tasking ENIM to set up their own goals, processes and oversight. It therefore transfers performance review of ENIM to ENRRB and also introduces consultative bodies to ENIM that group operational stakeholders, other applicants, service facilities, terminals and other stakeholders that mutually benefit from their early and continuous involvement in the capacity development and allocation.

RemovedAs far as the timing is concerned we want to be more ambitious than the Commission. Since the sector has already started to implement some of the planning processes under the TTR project, we consider it feasible to start implementing the regulation in slightly more ambitious steps. A swift implementation of the Regulation will be key to ensure that we can reap the benefits of the proposed legislation in line with the goals set out in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.

RemovedFinally, the report provides for proper secondary legislation by ensuring that the correct references to Implementing and Delegated acts are made.

RemovedThe rapporteur thanks all those that helped in providing input to this report and looks forward to fruitful debates on taking the legislation further.