Position paper on the EC's Fourth Railway Package 18/07/12

< Back to list

The voice of European Road-rail Combined Transport, UIRR, issued a position paper summarising the expectations of CT Operators from this rail legislative proposal of the European Commission.

UIRR offers its positions on four prominent topics: structural separation, reinforcement of the European Railway Agency, a European Rail Regulatory Body and measures to enhance rail service quality.

1) Understanding that the European Commission might not choose the most simple and elegant legal solution for dealing with the problems that are embodied by integrated incumbent (state owned) railway holdings, UIRR has developed six measures, which if legislated could prove a “second best” solution to full structural separation.

2) UIRR is in favour of reinforcing the European Railway Agency through the extension of its mandate to enable it to function as a fully fledged European level entity for rail safety and interoperability to accelerate the emergence of the Single European Rail Area.

3) UIRR presents its reasons and proposed mission for a European rail regulatory body, to further enhance the collaboration of national regulators, as well as to lead the implementation of European rail legislation.

4) UIRR puts forward four proposals, which – by complementing the other measures of the Package– would further enhance the quality of (border crossing) rail freight services in Europe: (i) creation of a European level rail network manager, (ii) rules to enable the discrimination free access to every publicly
financed transhipment terminal, (iii) a mechanism to better use the rail infrastructure asset inventory to direct public attention to the actual degradation of rail line(s), and (iv) transparency requirements to complement the IM’s performance regimes.

UIRR Director General, Mr Martin Burkhardt said: “UIRR, its members being confronted daily by the stagnating quality performance of freight railway subcontractors of Combined Transport, would like to encourage the European Commission to make rail freight quality improvements a declared aim of the Fourth Railway Package. UIRR is confident that it is still in time to decide such a positive scope extension to this turn of European rail legislation.”

Related documents
Full press relase EN
Position Paper EN
Top