A European rail network for competitive freight

This regulation sets out rules for the establishment and organisation of international rail corridors for competitive rail freight in order to develop a European rail network for competitive freight.

ACT

Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight.

SUMMARY

This regulation aims to develop a European rail network for competitive freight by establishing rules for the creation and organisation of international rail corridors for competitive rail freight. The annex to this regulation, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013, sets out 9 initial freight corridors which must be made operational by the concerned European Union (EU) countries by November 2013, November 2015 or November 2020.

For each freight corridor, EU countries must establish an executive board, made up of representatives of the EU countries’ authorities. For each freight corridor, the infrastructure managers concerned must establish a management board, made up of representatives of the infrastructure managers. This management board shall draw up an implementation plan which includes an investment plan, the measures foreseen to implement the corridor and the main elements of a market study. It will also set up an advisory group composed of managers and owners of the terminals of the freight corridor and another advisory group composed of railway undertakings interested in the use of the freight corridor.

The management board shall jointly define and arrange international prearranged train paths for freight trains to offer journey times corresponding to the needs of the freight operators.

The management board will establish or designate a joint body to provide authorised applicants with a single place to both request and receive answers relating to infrastructure capacity for freight trains crossing at least one border along the freight corridor. This one-stop shop will take decisions regarding applications for pre-arranged train paths and the reserve capacity for international freight trains. Any applications which cannot be met by the one-stop shop will be forwarded to the competent infrastructure managers, who will take a decision on the application and communicate this decision to the one-stop shop for further processing.

Priority rules between the different types of traffic shall be drawn up for the cases of traffic disturbances.

A document containing all the relevant information concerning the use of the corridor shall be published. Regulatory bodies shall cooperate and exchange information, notably in case of complaints.

Last updated: 19.05.2014