New EU rules for better rail capacity management
Author: Franck Hütten | Translated from German
19.11.2025 | Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council Presidency reached an agreement on the text of a regulation on rail capacity management in the early hours of Wednesday. Among other things, rail network operators will also be required to pay fines if the lines are not operational at the agreed time.
A new EU regulation aims to ensure that more trains can run more smoothly on the European rail network, particularly in international traffic. Negotiators from EU member states and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the text of the law in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The compromise still needs to be confirmed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. According to the European Commission, the first timetable designed under the new rules will come into effect in 2030.
The new regulation aims, among other things, to improve cross-border cooperation among railway infrastructure managers within their European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) regarding the allocation of train paths and the management of construction sites and diversions. It will consist of three planning phases: a five-year "strategic planning" phase, annual timetable adjustments, and short-term adjustments.
Hopes for greater planning certainty for rail freight transport
“The regulation will allow us to run more trains on the network without major investments by making better use of existing rail infrastructure,” said MEP Tilly Metz (Greens) from Luxembourg, who led the Parliament’s negotiating delegation as rapporteur for the issue. “Better planning and coordination will facilitate cross-border train services, which is particularly important for rail freight, which is facing major challenges.” Passenger tickets could be sold earlier than before due to the long-term timetable planning.
The European Parliament and the Council had long debated the implementation of the principle enshrined in the regulation that both network operators must pay penalties if they fail to provide promised train paths, and railway companies must pay penalties if they ultimately do not use booked travel times. Member States wanted to grant their infrastructure managers numerous exceptions to this rule. According to the European Parliament, these exceptions will now be limited to "unavoidable emergency situations." Among other things, promised travel times and routes may be changed by Member States in crisis situations or in the event of serious threats to public order and security.
Range for fines set
The compromise states that penalties must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive, and must not discriminate against any parties. Parliament proposes that they should range from €1 to €8 per kilometer. In cases of particularly severe disruption caused by a route cancellation, the penalties could be doubled.
According to the Council of Ministers, the new regulation also opens up the possibility of establishing social, economic, operational, and environmental criteria to be used to decide which rail operator receives a time slot for their train in cases of excessive demand or conflicts. While national infrastructure managers will remain the key players in capacity management, the new regulation aims to improve their cooperation. ENIM is also to develop a performance review system to assess the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation.
At the suggestion of Parliament, ENIM will in future be advised on capacity planning and track allocation by a European Railway Platform. This body will include representatives from railway companies, rail customers such as the shipping industry, ports, and service providers active in rail transport.
Special rules for military mobility
According to the compromise, requests from the military are among the cases in which member states are permitted to modify capacity planning. "Reliable rail corridors are not only essential for our economy and citizens, but also for improving military mobility throughout the EU," said Romanian MEP Gheorghe Falca of the Christian Democratic-conservative EPP group. The agreement on the regulation proves that the EU can protect its security, strengthen its unity, and prepare its rail infrastructure for the challenges ahead.