EUROPEAN RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGERS
EIM
European Rail Infrastructure Managers represents independent rail infrastructure managers across Europe to promote efficient rail infrastructure delivery and support liberalization.
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Rasa Juknevičienė (Member of the European Parliament)
20 May 2025 · Exchange on Military Mobility, Recapitulation on MM Hearing
Meeting with Mārtiņš Staķis (Member of the European Parliament)
19 May 2025 · Military Mobility
Meeting with Riho Terras (Member of the European Parliament)
13 May 2025 · Military mobility
Response to Connecting Europe through high-speed rail
8 May 2025
EIM welcomes the upcoming Communication on Connecting Europe through High-Speed Rail. The targets to double HSR traffic by 2030 and triple it by 2050 are ambitious and necessary to meet EU climate, security, and competitiveness goals. Infrastructure Managers (IMs), as owners and operators of railway infrastructure, are essential partners in making this vision a reality. To ensure successful implementation, EIM calls for a comprehensive framework addressing the following enablers: 1. Market Alignment HSR must connect medium- to long-distance corridors (1501500 km) linking major cities, key hubs, and regional centres, recognising that many services partly use conventional lines to ensure wide accessibility and that maintaining and improving existing infrastructure is essential. 2. Interoperability Harmonised and accelerated deployment of ERTMS, as well as improved technical standardisation, are necessary to overcome persistent fragmentation. EIM supports a clear EU definition of HSR to ensure network consistency, avoid a patchwork of speeds and specifications and allow flexibility, reflecting services that combine high-speed and conventional lines. The EU must recognise the importance of national projects with strong cross-border impact) and include them in funding priorities. 3. Funding HSR investments must be integrated into the wider rail system, ensuring interconnection with conventional lines and other modes, notably at stations. A long-term EU funding perspective, extending across multiple MFFs, is essential to give projects stability. Continued CEF grants should remain the backbone of support, prioritising cross-border links, critical missing links and bottlenecks, while avoiding narrow or artificial definitions. To reinforce financial sustainability, clearer guidance on PPPs, equity instruments and innovative tools like the EU Savings Market or green bonds is needed. EU co-funding should cover not only new HSR lines, but also the renewal and major upgrades of existing HSR infrastructure. Operational costs must be considered, with sufficient TAC flexibility for IMs to recover them under the user-pays principle. Harmonising TAC categories could be pursued, while recognising national cost differences. 4. Implementation The long lead times (up to 16 years) between planning and completion of rail projects threaten the feasibility of HSR targets. Faster procedures, better cross-border coordination, and stronger governance (via TENtec, CINEA), including clear capacity management regulation, are needed. 5. Security Dual-use planning should be integrated in HSR network, ensuring that key corridors meet civil and defence mobility needs. Projects should integrate defence-related requirements, including accessibility and interoperability, volume and weight capacity, durability, defensibility, reparability. Infrastructure must be designed to withstand cyber and physical threats in a more challenging security environment. 6. Resilience HSR investments must be climate-resilient from the outset. A life-cycle approach to infrastructure management, incentives for energy-efficient rolling stock, and greater harmonisation of TACs are necessary to enhance sustainability. Rails positive environmental impact must also be fully recognised in taxation and state aid frameworks. 7. Energy Rising energy costs and growing demand for green energy call for stronger collaboration on renewables and targeted investment to reduce dependence on fossil energy resources. 8. Workforce Labour shortages across the rail sector are a growing concern. EIM urges the EU to support reskilling, upskilling, and efforts to attract younger generations, particularly in the field of infrastructure management. EIM reaffirms its strong support for the EUs ambition to establish a high-performance EU HSR network and is ready to contribute to building an efficient HSR system.
Read full responseMeeting with Tobias Cremer (Member of the European Parliament)
30 Apr 2025 · Military Mobility
Meeting with Rasmus Andresen (Member of the European Parliament)
24 Apr 2025 · Military Mobility
Meeting with Mika Aaltola (Member of the European Parliament) and Clean up the Internet
10 Apr 2025 · EU Affairs
Meeting with Reinis Pozņaks (Member of the European Parliament)
27 Mar 2025 · Introductory meeting
Meeting with Silke Brocks (Acting Head of Unit Mobility and Transport)
24 Mar 2025 · Presentation of the EIM organisation
Meeting with Philippe Chantraine (Head of Unit Mobility and Transport)
3 Mar 2025 · Exchange of views on future financing of TEN-T network
Meeting with Joachim Luecking (Head of Unit Mobility and Transport)
10 Feb 2025 · Introduction new Head of Unit MOVE C4. Presentation of the work of EIM. Overview of EIM's position on main challenges of the sector.
Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and UIRR, International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport
22 Oct 2024 · Railway capacity
Meeting with Ditte Juul-Joergensen (Director-General Energy) and Transport and Environment (European Federation for Transport and Environment) and
8 Apr 2024 · Energy market
Response to Revision of fees and charges of the European Union Agency for Railways
29 Mar 2024
The railway sector stakeholders represented here by AERRL, ALLRAIL, CER, EIM, ERFA, UIP, UIRR and UNIFE - consider any cost increase as a major challenge for the competitiveness of the European rail sector. The increases should be offset against the efficiency improvements promised with the 4th Railway Package. Especially since the railway stakeholders face corresponding costs within their own companies and from their contractors. While we acknowledgean overall cost increase in the limits of inflation, for the sake of transparency we request the calculation method of these costs be made publicly available. The new fixed fee of 26500 proposed under Art 3(3)a and item 4 in table B of the Annex (authorising a vehicle type - freight wagons when the area of use is whole Union) actually exceeds the experienced costs under the currently hourly rate method. We also recall that the fees for a wagon type authorisation under the 3RP were significantly lower than today under the 4RP. Given the objective of the European Commission to boost the efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness rail freight services across the European Union, we recommend to lower the fees for freight wagons either via a revised fixed fee proposal or by keeping the hourly rate method for the type authorisation. The wording for Art 2(2)h anditem 8 in table B of the Annex (Processing of notifications, including decisions of the Agency in accordance with Article 16(4) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/545) needs to be refined. It shall be made clear that the amount of 3.710 is a lump sum for all notifications of a type of vehicles and not for individual vehicles. This would lead to enormous costs otherwise. The 3710 is also significantly higher than experiences of an applicant when exchanging information according with Article 16(4) with the German NSA, in the range between 600 to maximum 1200. We do not support the possibility for NSAs to delay their input and ERA to issue an invoice without the associated NSA costs proposed under Art 5(3). Allowing NSAs to recover costs directly with the applicants at an undefined time passes the administrative burden over to the applicants and contradicts the principle of one OSS application one invoice as established when drafting of (EU) 2018/764. The new 20 calendar days period for the NSAs to provide their cost statements to the ERA should be sufficient and the second half of the proposed Art 5(3) should be deleted. Art 5(1) now gives ERA 60 days rather than 30 to solve this. The fixed fees for conformity to type (CTT) authorisations found in item 1 in table B of the Annex have now undergone two indexations, standing at 11,6% higher than those established by (EU) 2021/1903. We believe these fixed fees need to be recalibrated to reflect the efficiency gains in the CTT process reported by the Agency in subsequent years and quality improvements of the applications following 3 more years of experience. It is understood that the hours required to process the CTT applications are now lower than in 2021 and as such the fees should also be adjusted to reflect this and incentivise continued improvement in the processes. For Special Vehicles we should consider that the IMs yellow fleets are far smaller compared to the commercial ones, and so their authorisation costs cannot be distributed across a large number of vehicles. The EC and ERA should consider how to mitigate that impact the authorisation costs have on these vehicles. If we add up all the cost elements for vehicle authorisation and registrations on a case-by-case basis, we concludethat the accelerated roll-out of European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) both on the side of Infrastructure Manager and Railway Undertakings as well as the Digital Automatic Coupler (DAC) is at risk. We recommend addressing the issues of vehicle and trackside authorisation in the framework of the accelerated ERTMS rollout and DAC deployment.
Read full responseMeeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)
22 Jan 2024 · Rail capacity proposal
Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)
7 Dec 2023 · Rail capacity proposal
Response to Measures to better manage and coordinate international rail traffic to increase the modal share of rail
16 Nov 2023
Please find the position paper of EIM (European Rail Infrastructure Managers) regarding the draft Regulation on the use of rail infrastructure capacity uploaded.
Read full responseResponse to Count your transport emissions: CountEmissions EU
13 Nov 2023
EIM, the European Association representing Rail Infrastructure Managers (IMs), welcomes the initiative related to provide more transparent information regarding transport-related greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission to monitor and reduce emissions and to improve the efficiency of transport services. Nonetheless, EIM believes that some key points are not adequately addressed. For more information please see the attached position paper.
Read full responseResponse to Mid-term evaluation of the Space Programme
8 Nov 2023
EIM, the European Association representing Rail Infrastructure Managers (IMs), welcomes the inclusion of the rail sector as a main stakeholder for the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). The sector is currently developing ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System), for which absolute train positioning is a key element, and FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System). Although currently neither rely on satellites nor space enabled technologies, there is the possibility of integrating them. Furthermore, its foreseeable for IMs to utilize earth observation assets (vegetation, monitoring of structures and surrounding areas, prevention of embankment failures, etc.). While the integration of space-enabled technologies into the railway sector and their potential European-wide implementation offer benefits, EIM has highlighted critical issues in the attached paper. Addressing these concerns is vital to fully realizing the technology's potential.
Read full responseRail Infrastructure Managers urge hydrogen coordination and resource prioritization
4 Sept 2023
18 Jul 2023
EIM, the association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers promoting the interests and views of independent infrastructure managers in Europe, welcomes the possibility to provide its members feedback on this open consultation. In agreement with the sister organisations CER and ERFA, please find herewith our common statement: The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER aisbl), the European Association of Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM aisbl) and the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA asbl) bringing together close to 100 European railway undertakings, their national associations, vehicle leasing companies as well as rail infrastructure managers support the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and the Council empowering the French Republic to negotiate, sign and conclude an international agreement on the safety and interoperability requirements within the Channel Fixed Link (2023/0192 (COD)). CER, EIM, and ERFA call on all parties to find pragmatic arrangements ensuring safe, interoperable and free movement of trains from the European Union to the United Kingdom through the single, complex engineering structure that is the Channel Fixed Link. CER, EIM, and ERFA encourage the French Republic to work out a sound agreement for a coherent railway safety and interoperability framework under the conditions described in Article 2 of the aforementioned legal act. CER, EIM, and ERFA note that the guarantees provided by the agreement will be of special importance in the context of increasing rail services between the EU and the United Kingdom. For more information about EIM, visit: www.eimrail.org.
Read full responseResponse to Cyber Solidarity Act
7 Jul 2023
EIM, the European Association representing Rail Infrastructure Managers, believes that cybersecurity holds particular importance for the rail sector. Especially considering the potential risks posed by attacks that could jeopardize national security, particularly if rail safety components are targeted. The proposed Regulation significantly strengthens and provides more comprehensive specifications for the provisions outlined in the NIS2 Directive. To this purpose, EIM welcomes the allocation of additional budget to implement the proposed Regulation. However, EIM believes that some essential points that would allow the smooth functioning of Security Operation Centres (SOCs) have not been adequately addressed. For a comprehensive overview of EIM's proposed changes, please refer to the attached file.
Read full response28 Jun 2023
EIM, the European Association representing Rail Infrastructure Managers (IMs), welcomes the EC initiative EU-wide multimodal travel - new specifications for information services. This initiative aims to enhance the existing procedure for planning and purchasing tickets for trips that involve different modes of transport or paths managed by different operators. Its goal is to establish a clear framework for multimodal travel information services. EIM believes that this initiative can greatly contribute to achieving a seamless multimodal travel system while empowering consumers to make informed choices regarding their mode of transport. In support of this, EIM highlights several key points that deserve attention and consideration as highlited in the attached statement.
Read full responseResponse to List of essential services that critical entities provide
15 Jun 2023
EIM, the European Association representing the Rail Infrastructure Managers, would like to stress the fundamental role that Railway Infrastructure Managers play in ensuring a seamless railway transport through the Union. EIM therefore welcomes the provision of Article 2, and the inclusion of the essential services provided by Infrastructure Managers in the draft Delegated Regulation; i.e: Article2.2.b.ii: operation, management and maintenance of railway infrastructure, including passenger stations, freight terminals, railway yards and traffic control centres (infrastructure managers); Article2.2.b.iii: operation, management and maintenance of railway service facilities (operators of service facility); Article2.2.b.iv: operation, management and maintenance of rail traffic management, controlcommand and signalling as well as telecommunication installations and systems used for control-command and signalling (infrastructure managers).
Read full responseRail infrastructure managers seek alignment with interoperability rules
2 May 2023
Response to Countering the potential threat from Unmanned Aircraft Systems
3 Apr 2023
EIM, the European Association representing Rail Infrastructure Managers and CER, The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, welcome the initiative to establish a European framework on the safe use and protection from the criminal use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as drones. EIM and CER would like to bring to the attention of the Commission that rail infrastructure managers use drones for various railway use cases, including vegetation detection, thermographic inspections, surveillance, catenary inspections, civil engineering photogrammetry, railway track wear detection, asset inventory, and first responder applications. In this framework, Directive 2022/2557 on The resilience of critical entities identifies railway infrastructures managers as critical entities. Hence, they have the responsibility to conduct a complete risk assessment to evaluate, prevent, and mitigate any disruption of services. Directive 2022/2557 places the burden of preventing man-made threats and related liability on rail Infrastructure Managers. Consequently, the risk assessment and preventive measures should also include the possible criminal/unauthorized use of drones on rail infrastructure, which can interfere with the rail operations and cause safety and security risks, exposing Infrastructure Managers to possible liability. Therefore, it is key that Infrastructure Managers can quickly take apart legitimate UAS activity above railways from malicious activities to be able to mitigate the risk in a timely fashion before any harm is done, either by activating countermeasures (UAS neutralization) or conservative measures (e.g.: rail traffic neutralization). Consequently, EIM and CER would welcome any EU regulation enforcing drone operators to request authorization to Infrastructure Managers beforehand, and to report during flight in real-time of their position and trajectory. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/664 defines U-Space which is a great framework to handle air risks with provision of UAS services that meets comparable requirements. Similar framework, or an extension of it, could be defined with railway-oriented UAS services managed by Infrastructure Managers, to handle ground risks like this one and applied uniformly on airspace volumes above railway infrastructure all over EU. Moreover, as the Commissions impact assessment states that there are currently no reliable countermeasures to this problem, the criminal use of drones in the railway track side and other rail-related infrastructure (e.g.: stations and rail electric power stations) should be given due consideration.
Read full response27 Jan 2023
EIM acknowledges the EU Agency for Railway (ERA)´s and the European Commission´s efforts, as well as those made by other stakeholders along the past 3 years, in the preparation of the Digital Rail and Green Freight TSI Revision Package of 2023. EIM also actively supported the Agency and the Commission in the drafting of the TSIs, including the preparation of the Megapack (TSI WAG, INF, PRM, ENE, LOC&PAS, NOI and RINF Regulation). EIM welcomes most changes in the above-mentioned TSIs, but highlights the need to have a system perspective regarding the TSIs and further regulations, particularly in relation between the content of the Megapack (especially the RINF Regulation) and other TSIs (namely TSI OPE and CCS). Further detailed comments can be found in the attached document.
Read full response27 Jan 2023
EIM acknowledges the EU Agency for Railway (ERA)´s and the European Commission´s efforts, as well as those made by other stakeholders along the past 3 years, in the preparation of the Digital Rail and Green Freight TSI Revision Package of 2023. Since the publication of the TSI CCS with Regulation (EU) 2016/919 and amended by Regulations (EU) 2019/776 and (EU) 2020/387, EIM has actively supported ERA and DG MOVE in the drafting of the TSI CCS revision as part of the Digital Rail and Green Freight TSI revision package 2022/2023 (hereafter: TSI CCS 2023), along the past 3 years of this revision cycle. EIM is of the clear view that the proposed TSI CCS 2023 brings benefit for the EU Railway sector as a whole. Therefore, EIM would like to confirm its support for the proposed TSI CCS 2023. It is the EIM position that the carefully negotiated changes throughout the revision cycle achieved a mature state for the specification and would propose to refrain from further conceptual modification of the draft. However, EIM has concerns related to certain last-minute changes in the TSI CCS 2023, which in our views endanger the implementation of the progress made within this revision cycle. Therefore, EIM brings forward some high-level arguments related to these topics, in the attached document, as well as further detailed comments can be found in the Annex to this document.
Read full responseResponse to Revision of Operation Technical Specification for rail Interoperability
9 Dec 2022
EIM acknowledges the positive developments in this revision cycle in the TSI OPE, in terms of operational harmonisation, especially regarding the amendments for ERTMS operations in Appendix A and the enhancement of the forms for the harmonised operational instructions, more precisely the European Instructions. However, the European Commission has introduced numerous and substantial amendments into the 'RISC 95 non-paper v3', the 'RISC 96 draft' and the post RISC 96 draft that were not part of the Agency´s final recommendation after the public consultation by the Agency (between March-June 2022). Although acknowledging the Commission´s legal right to do so, EIM firmly believes that these amendments without due consultation of stakeholders undermine the transparency and clarity of the revision process otherwise duly provided by the Agency´s Change Control Management procedure. Furthermore, the numerous drafts and changing texts along this last mile of the TSI revision cycle create uncertainty and concern regarding the proposed provisions by the Commission, in particular with regards to the introduction of its digital ambitions by means of very challenging obligations for Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings. As the timeframe of the current revision cycle does not allow for the due discussion, clear definition of the provisions related to these digital ambitions, and their corresponding implementation dates, the EIM position is to postpone the integration of such ambitions in the TSI OPE to the next revision cycle. The EIM position is expressed in more details in the attachment, including detailed comments and change requests based on both 'RISC 96 draft' (basis of the present Public Consultation) and the post RISC 96 draft (distributed 30th of November).
Read full responseResponse to Creation of the Common European Mobility Data Space
6 Dec 2022
EIM, the European Rail Infrastructure Managers association, and its sister organisation CER, welcome the Mobility Data Space initiative to facilitate data sharing in the mobility sector. Our Joint position is expressed in more details in the attachment. We would like to point out that, given the challenges, the implementation should incorporate of the following foundational principles in order to ensure that the benefits of a Mobility Data Space outweigh its risks: Data sovereignty: Data providers and users should be able to determine the terms and conditions of their transaction agreements. We should safeguard sensitive data and ensure it remains under its owner's control. Existing legislation such as the Trade Secrets Protection Directive already contributes to protecting sensitive information. Sharing transport data based on voluntary and FRAND contracts should enable the emergence of additional innovative solutions generated through co-creation. The data sovereignty principle has already been recognised in similar initiatives such as the French Mobility, transport and tourism Data Space EONA-X and the German Mobility Data Space . The list of data categories to be made available must be limited to what is strictly necessary, to those already available in Open Data and must be precise in terms of the date of collection of the data, their nature, completeness, quality and relevance. Standardisation and interoperability: Data spaces should be supported through cloud infrastructure based on the principles of (cyber)security, interoperability and data portability. The future European Mobility Data Space must be easy to use and compatible with existing data spaces or digital ecosystems, e.g. Gaia-X, and data spaces from other sectors. Businesses should face no additional administrative burden or costs, including for the use of the data space itself and the value created from data sharing should remain with the users. The formats and standards for making data available can lead to a significant workload and costs if they are far removed from the uses of the company producing the data. Flexibility must therefore be left to data producers on this point. Data reciprocity: The forced provision of business data could hamper the competitiveness of European businesses by increasing the power of a few large companies at the expense of smaller players such as SMEs. Currently, rail infrastructure managers and railway undertakings have many reciprocal data-sharing obligations, while nothing similar exists for other users of these data. A level playing field is not enough when it comes to comparing market incumbents with the increasingly direct customer interactions and potential intermediates. Data quality: For railway undertakings and infrastructure managers, data quality is more important than data quantity. If the available data is not usable, the amount of that data, no matter how large, does not serve the purpose. Regarding the current legislation, CER and EIM believe that the available harmonised data standards referenced in the existing legislation is sufficient. Furthermore, for the purpose of traffic management, the interoperable bilateral exchange as specified in TAF and TAP TSI remains the optimal way for the rail infrastructure managers to get and to share data.
Read full responseMeeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)
12 Oct 2022 · Europen Green Deal, Rail infrastructure, TEN-T
Rail managers warn pesticide bans threaten European train safety
15 Sept 2022
Message — Rail managers request exemptions from pesticide bans in sensitive areas to maintain track safety. They also argue that short derogation periods and public notice requirements are impossible to implement across vast rail networks.12
Why — Retaining access to chemical herbicides avoids the high costs of unproven non-chemical maintenance methods.3
Response to Union guidelines for the development of the TEN-T network amended proposal
20 Jul 2022
EIM, the Association of the European Rail Infrastructure Managers, highly welcomes the proposal of the European Commission for a revised Regulation for the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The new TEN-T Regulation will be crucial to meet the targets of the “European Green Deal” and the “Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy” of the European Commission (EC). EIM also welcomes the efforts of the European Commission to enlarge the TEN-T network to third countries (accession countries, partnership countries).
This revision also provides a unique opportunity for all EU Member States and stakeholders to develop a European transport network, which is connected, innovative, competitive, resilient, and sustainable. EIM also takes stock of the declared ambition of the EC to focus in particular on harmonising assets, procedures and processes within and across modes to create a single European network. EIM and its members are keen to continue to contribute to this process and share relevant information, best practices and experiences with third countries (accession countries, partnership countries).
EIM has identified several "key success factors" which are crucial to deliver a successful TEN-T reform in the interest of all stakeholders concerned. They address in particular aspects related to funding, governance, operational and technical parameters as well as innovation and also the extension of the TEN-T to third countries (including Ukraine).
Further information on these key success factors are outlined in the document attached.
Read full responseResponse to Revision of the State aid Railway Guidelines
29 Oct 2021
EIM would like to thank the European Commission for the opportunity to provide its views on the Inception Impact Assessment for Revision of the Community Guidelines on State aid for railway undertakings. Please be referred to the attached position paper.
Read full responseMeeting with Daniel Mes (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)
25 Sept 2020 · Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy
Meeting with Elzbieta Lukaniuk (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean), Pablo Fabregas Martinez (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean)
2 Sept 2020 · Meeting to discuss RAIL
Response to Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy
24 Jul 2020
Please be referred to the attached document in order to view the feedback of EIM - The European Rail Infrastructure Managers.
Read full responseMeeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)
25 Feb 2020 · Sustainable and smart mobility, rail infrastructure
Meeting with Daniel Mes (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)
29 Jan 2020 · The rail industry and the Green Deal
Meeting with Jean-Eric Paquet (Director-General Research and Innovation) and UNIFE and Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies
4 Sept 2019 · Joint meeting CER-EIM-UNIFE to discuss future of transportation in Horizon Europe
Response to European Partnership for transforming Europe’s rail system
26 Aug 2019
EIM, the association representing the European Rail Infrastructure Managers, and its Members welcome the plans of the European Commission for a European Partnership for rail. EIM strongly supports the establishment of a successor of the current Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking (S2R). EIM Members Network Rail and Trafikverket and others are already taking part in the current S2R. It became clear from their experience that a strong Research & Innovation (R&I) policy for rail needs to be coordinated on a European level to facilitate the delivery to the market. All of this can be best reached through policy option 2 of the roadmap: the ‘institutionalised partnership.’
Rail plays a key role in decarbonising the transport sector and it is also an important contributor to the EU’s greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy. To reach the demanding but necessary goal of fighting climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions with 40% by 2030, developing and investing in new technologies is crucial. Rail, and more specifically the rail infrastructure managers, also play a crucial role in issues concerning defence and geopolitics, for example through the ‘military mobility’ project. In order to safeguard these extra ‘roles’ for rail, innovation is essential.
Up until now, S2R has played a central role in the coordination of European rail research. On the one hand, it has developed a pan-European coordination with a common strategic agenda. On the other hand, S2R has been an effective forum where suppliers and customers have been able to discuss their needs. It has demonstrated a real benefit to guarantee a sufficient level of R&I for rail coming from the private and public sector in a coordinated manner. The EIM founding members of S2R, Network Rail and Trafikverket, have both recognised the importance of the programme in their internal R&I programmes.
EIM supports a European Partnership for transforming Europe’s rail system with an institutionalised structure similar to the current S2R. The rail sector is conscious about the problems identified in the Inception Impact Assessment. However, Infrastructure Mangers (‘IMs’) work daily on tackling those issues to the benefit of its customers. Decarbonisation and digitalisation are some future challenges that rail is already embracing. To efficiently reply to these challenges, a European and horizontal approach is necessary. For IMs, investments in rail related R&I at European level is a must to foster an improved coordination and to have access to additional funding. Moreover, the potential involvement of IMs in S2R is quite high. Therefore, thought should be given to the maximum number of funding members for the successor of S2R. There should also be a balanced approach between the industry, IMs and RUs regarding the decision-making power within the future S2R.
EIM would like to conclude with a couple of suggestions on the future S2R. First of all, some flexibility should be allowed for concerning the selected topics in the future European Partnership. The innovation cycle is becoming shorter, requiring a permanent adaptation of the projects. A flexible approach to the future topics is important both for the European Commission to make sure that funds are efficiently used, and for the rail sector to target the most promising research programmes. The new S2R should focus more on new and implementable solutions.
Next to this, setting realistic objectives will improve the market uptake, so that real customers’ needs can be met. The new S2R should focus both on short-term and long-term projects. Short-term projects, such as product development, are ideal for a quick market uptake. For long-term projects, the S2R should find the right balance between horizontal governance and a more segregated (‘silo-based’) approach. Of course, R&I activities undertaken by other European consortiums or agencies should also be taken into account and cooperation has to be sought were possible.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the rail freight network
28 Mar 2019
EIM welcomes the opportunity to provide its feedback to the Roadmap evaluation of Regulation (EU) 913/2010 (RFC Regulation) concerning a European rail network for competitive freight, initiated by the European Commission. EIM acknowledges that boosting rail freight transport via the improvement of Rail Freight Corridors (RFCs) is essential for the promotion of efficient and sustainable logistic solutions. An increased modal share for rail freight will contribute to transport decarbonization and will also deliver on the EU’s sustainability goals.
EIM would like to remark that a lot of progress has been made at the RFCs level since the entry into force of the RFC Regulation. The work of the corridors has evolved from the setting up the corridors, by establishing a suitable governance structure and making the corridors operations, to identifying measures on how best to develop international services on the RFCs for improving the operational performance of the customers. Regarding the latter, the corridors have started coordinating their discussions in order to develop harmonised approaches and unified services for rail freight operators. In addition, the execution and implementation of the ten Priority Projects from the Sector Statement Group (SSG), in cooperation with rail freight operators and their customers, is expected to boost international rail freight. In this regard, we welcome the Commission’s intention to take into account the progress of the implementation of the sector statement.
Following this further, it is crucial to bear in mind the principal objective of the RFC Regulation during the evaluation at all times, the principle being the establishment and organization of the international rail corridors for competitive freight with a view to the development of a European rail network for competitive freight.
In addition, we welcome the parallel procedures of the evaluation of the RFC Regulation and those of the Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network.
EIM will follow closely the evaluation and a potential upcoming revision and looks forward to a fruitful cooperation with the European Commission.
Read full responseResponse to Streamlining the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)
31 Jul 2018
Please find attached EIM's feedback on the EC public consultation on Streamlining the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)
Read full responseResponse to Revision of language requirements for train drivers to allow pilots exploring alternative options
20 Jul 2018
EIM and its Members would like to thank the European Commission for the opportunity to provide feedback on the revision of language requirements for train drivers to allow pilots exploring alternative options. EIM supports the wording of the European Commission saying that the requirements in point 8 of the Annex VI to Directive 2007/59/EC on the language skills of train drivers are not considered to be the most effective means of ensuring a high level of safety while allowing efficient operation of the rail network. Therefore, EIM welcomes the initiative to investigate improvements in the language programme.
EIM has a few questions regarding the current legal text authorising pilot projects:
- First and foremost, EIM would like to know what kind of regime will be applied to these pilot projects in order to guarantee that the current safety procedures and common liability rules would apply.
- Moreover, what is the legal responsibility in case of an accident? EIM welcomes a clarification as to whom is responsible and who is in charge of what.
- Regarding the cooperation of RUs with IMs, we would like to know what type of coordination is expected. Will it be on a bilateral or multilateral basis?
- How will the risks assessments be carried out? A reference to the common safety method for risk evaluation and assessment (CSM RA) can be useful in order to assess any safety risks.
In addition to the questions, EIM would like to remark that in case of operational disturbances and alternative routes, the language skills alone are not enough. The rolling stock must also be compatible to the new route. The train driver must have the necessary authorisation for the network regulation and the associated signalling rules. Moreover, he must also have the necessary route knowledge with an appropriate training in order to maintain a high level of safety.
Following this further, EIM would like to ask for clarification in the regulation that each IM and RU involved is responsible for its part, notably where the implementation of the pilot project requires a safety demonstration before the concerned NSAs.
Finally, EIM would like to conclude that according to the findings of the pilot projects, the EC shall take into consideration the differences between pilot projects. Therefore, the conclusions of one pilot project cannot be extended automatically to another line or project. Moreover, the reports related to pilot projects should be available for all RUs, IMs and Member States.
Overall, EIM is open in cooperating with all the relevant actors in the pilot projects, which can include more than one operator in one application, and is ready to have an open and constructive dialogue to ensure that everyone benefits from these pilots.
Read full responseResponse to Economic Equilibrium Test for national rail regulatory bodies
18 May 2018
EIM members support a balanced approach between an open market and the sometimes necessary public service contracts (PSCs). Nevertheless, the basic idea of the SERA Directive is to achieve a single European rail network, based on market demand and competition. Hindering new railway undertakings (RUs) from entering the market by reason that they may affect others, seems contrary to the aim of SERA. Therefore, EIM asks to add a reference to SERA art. 10-11 in recital 1 of the Regulation at stake, which shall clarify the legal basis for this suggestion. Similarly, in recital 2,5 and 6 the PSC seems to be more important than the market demand or competition as new rail passenger services shall only be allowed if no more than limited impact on public service can be expected. The regulation should include a clarification as to why the economic equilibrium of PSCs is considered important to protect and why that interest should be allowed to hinder competition.
According to Art. 3 (1) and Art. 4 (1), the text suggests that a railway undertaking already operating passenger trains in accordance with a working timetable would have to notify the regulatory body (RB) at least 18 months ahead of a new working timetable on planned changes in their services. Only ’preliminary’ information and assessments are possible, which should be added to the wording, and the infrastructure manager (IM) should not be responsible for the content of such information. The RUs might not be allowed to continue operating their services. This could eliminate successful RUs from the market, opposite to the aim of SERA. Moreover, the allocation of capacity is an exclusive task of the IM. However, such a decision of the RB will have a direct effect on the timetable. Considering the amount of planning necessary for the IM to achieve a working timetable that allows optimal usage of available capacity, the fact that decisive powers affecting the timetable would lie with another party might be negative to the usage of the rail network in total. A clarification on what an “existing passenger service” is necessary, as stated in Art. 3 (1). RUs are allocated a train path for one timetable period only at a time and therefore, the term needs to be defined to avoid uncertainty as to the application of this Regulation.
With regards to Art. 4 (2) and Art. 8 (2) applicants shall provide information on detailed route, timetable etc. at a very early stage which may prove difficult for an RU, especially considering that the capacity allocation is an IM’s task. Even when there are framework agreements, train paths cannot be guaranteed, so only the preliminary plans of the RU can be provided. The legal security in an RB being able to hinder an RU from being a competitor based on such uncertain facts could be questioned.
Art. 7 (2,d,1) provides the information requirements from the IMs. However, it is not clear what kind of information is exactly required as the IM cannot guarantee at this point in time that the train paths will be allocated to the concerned RU. The information in Art. 7 (d,3) on the assessment of impacts on capacity use can be based on previous timetables, but since train paths are to be allocated only one timetable period at a time, this assessment would be very uncertain.
In Article 11 (1), EIM proposes to add the word “concerned ”after the rail infrastructure. It is important to stress that only limited parts of the network are concerned by the RB’s decision.
The Regulation should indicate that the RB must act competition neutrally and non-discriminatory to avoid favouring or mistreatment of certain RUs. Moreover, according to SERA article 11 (6), Member States must ensure that decisions can be subject to judicial trial, and therefore, EIM would welcome a reference on this in the Regulation.
Generally, the RB should not be given decisive powers interfering with the tasks of the IMs so their decision should not be ’binding on all parties’.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the 2008 European Critical Infrastructure Protection Directive
10 Apr 2018
EIM welcomes the evaluation of the Council Directive 2008/114/EC on the identification and designation of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection, initiated by the European Commission. EIM acknowledges that the terrorists threats in Europe put the critical infrastructures under a considerable amount of danger. Therefore, it is necessary to identify them and to ensure their protection to avoid any catastrophic consequences.
EIM would like to stress that a one-size-fits-all approach is not always feasible. There are still large differences at national level when it comes to protection on critical infrastructures. It is important for the Commission to keep that in mind during the evaluation and take the Member States’ differences into account. EIM would also like to emphasise that the first responsible actor for security remains the Member States, with whom the IMs and other actors cooperate.
EIM supports the consideration of other efforts of strengthening EU instruments for security, such as the adoption of the NIS Directive, as stated in the evaluation roadmap However, in the context of -rail-European critical infrastructure, as referred to in Annex I, EIM emphasise the importance in the due consideration of existing rail specific security and protective measures at Member State level as well as other prospective current works of DG MOVE during the evaluation, most notably, policy initiatives in improving rail passenger security. In this regard, EIM recognizes the need of coherence with other security legislations to avoid duplication and overlaps, in this case, between the potential recast of the European Critical Infrastructure Protection Directive and the potential legislative initiatives in rail security. With this regard, it is essential to avoid investing in a lot of measures which could prove inefficient and could lead, on the one hand, to a loss of competition of the railway sector and, on the other hand, to shifting risk to other more vulnerable sectors. In addition, all the possible measures should be accompanied by a reflection on the funding method.
Finally, EIM supports the evidence-based approach in the evaluation. Rail infrastructure managers are fully committed to contribute to the prospective public consultation and to all following steps.
Read full responseResponse to Ex-post evaluation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme 2007-2013
22 Mar 2018
EIM welcomes the ex-post evaluation of the Trans-European Transport Network programme 2007-2013, as stated in line with Article 30 of Regulation No966/2012 and initiated by the European Commission. It is essential to assess the implementation of projects funded under the TEN-T programme.
EIM strongly believes in the success of TEN-T and the use of grants for an interoperable and interconnected Europe which strengthens the foundation of a Single European Area. To facilitate the implementation of the TEN-T core and comprehensive networks by the given deadlines, it is of utmost importance to secure the use of grants to face the challenges of removing infrastructure bottlenecks and bridging missing infrastructure links, among others.
According to the mid-term evaluation of the TEN-T Programme 2007-2013, the objectives of the Programme are too general to draw any conclusions on the successes of the TEN-T projects during that time. In addition, it has been concluded that some aspects of the Programme need to be improved which requires a revision of the Guidelines and Regulation. Taking this conclusion into account, one should keep in mind that already at the end of 2013, the new Union Guidelines for the adoption for the development of the TEN-T Network were already adopted. Therefore, EIM calls the EC to take into account in this evaluation the lessons drawn and the actions taken already after 2013 to improve the TEN-T Programme.
Regarding the criteria that the ex post evaluation will be based upon, the definition of the effectiveness, which is the correspondence between the effects and the objectives of the TEN-T programme, is not entirely accurate. EIM would like to suggest the correspondence between the appropriateness of project criteria, criteria for awarding projects, suitability of the funding mechanism used and their effects on achieving the objectives of the TEN-T programme. In addition, the EC and INEA will work together to carry out the evaluation of the TEN-T Programme by analysing all relevant economic, financial and technical information. EIM proposes to base the evaluation also by analysing relevant social information. In this context, social refers to social mobility. The TEN-T Programme in some cases have helped to develop European railways so that communities previously isolated have become more mobile, better connected and have achieved greater social mobility. Therefore, EIM believes that social information will contribute to the overall evaluation of the TEN-T Programme.
Finally, EIM supports the evidence-based approach in the evaluation and would like to remark that the projects funded under the TEN-T Programme that will be taken into consideration in the evaluation, should include projects of all transport modes and all scopes relevant to the TEN-T Network. Rail infrastructure managers are committed to contribute to the prospective public consultation and to all following steps regarding the funding of projects under the TEN-T Programme.
Read full responseResponse to Improving passenger railway security
15 Dec 2017
EIM acknowledges that the recent terrorist attacks, usually targeting public areas with defenceless crowds, have also put pressure on the railway environment. EIM and its Members strongly welcome the possibility to express their opinions on the Inception Impact Assessment ‘’Improving passenger railway security’’ published by the European Commission.
Firstly, EIM shares the Commission’s consideration that pushing forth far-reaching measures – such as those implemented in civil aviation – would not be feasible for the rail sector. There are still large and intrinsic differences existing at a national level when it comes to the security management of rail transport, therefore no ‘’one-size-fits-all’’ measures could be effectively applied by Member States.
Secondly, EIM and its Members express a grave concern over the possibility – outlined in the Inception Impact Assessment – of measures covering both international and domestic passenger services. In fact, setting the same framework for both international and national rail passenger traffic may have severe consequences on the infrastructure management business from the financial and operational perspectives. In this regard, EIM reiterates its position stated at the rail security workshop held in July 2017 and strongly recommends the Commission not to extend the scope to any legislative or non-legislative measure to domestic passenger rail services.
Additionally, EIM would like to point out that, in the first place, the primary responsibility to prevent or react to terrorist threats or incidents belongs to security forces – intelligence, police, militaries, etc. – in charge in the different Member States. Infrastructure and Station Managers will of course be ready to do their part in supporting the security enforcement entities in the execution of their tasks and, furthermore, will continue to play a leading role in restoring services should a terrorist attack unfortunately succeed. EIM would also like to acknowledge the fact that security forces have gathered a lot of practical expertise during recent years, and while terrorist threats remain very high in some countries, their ability to prevent a successful terrorist attack is constantly improving.
Finally, EIM would like to mention that contrary to what is stated in the problem definition, the terrorist threat is well understood by most railway stakeholders, and this certainly in countries which are the most exposed to the terrorist threat.
With regard to the four policy options brought on the table by the Commission, at this stage EIM would only be able to express preparatory observations and views. Indeed, due to the intrinsic complexity and sensitivity of the subject, EIM and its Members deem it necessary to before thoroughly analysed each of the scenarios presented as well as assessing all the possible consequences the measures proposed may entail prior to commenting in detail.
Preliminarily, EIM Members are willing to investigate further the proposed measures. To this extent, defining a common high-level framework for the risk assessment of international traffic, strengthening the cooperation between law enforcement authorities and all rail actors – granted that security enforcement forces hold the primary responsibilities – fostering an effective exchange of best practices and organising cross border exercises seem to be sensible proposals on which future discussions could be held. Other proposals requiring the implementation of standards at European level (for training, staff scrutiny or station design) seems much less suitable given the different environment and risk profile to which IMs and the rail industry are confronted to.
As the discussion unfolds, we look forward to working together with the Commission and all interested parties in finding the most balanced approach to tackle the risk of terrorist attacks in railway areas without jeopardising the competitiveness of the rail sector.
Read full responseResponse to Noise differentiated track access charges schemes
23 Nov 2017
EIM welcomes the evaluation of the implementation of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/429 “setting out the modalities to be followed for the application of the charging for the cost of noise effects providing the legal framework for establishing noise differentiated track access charges (NDTAC) schemes within the European Union”, initiated by the European Commission. EIM agrees with the European Commission’s assessment that tackling the issue at source would be the most efficient way forward and could help saving significant resources for the infrastructures. Moreover, It would be crucial to have all the other instruments in the toolkit, of which NDTAC are essential part.
EIM acknowledges that noise is one of the most widespread public health threats in industrialized countries and the railways recognize the need to reduce noise. In order to ensure an intermodal level playing field, and to better contribute to a modal shift to rail transport, it is important to incentivize retrofitting through reduced track access charges. It is, however, important that one does not introduce measures to retrofit wagons in those situations where the noise-reducing brake pads does not offer a fully functional alternative to traditional brake pads, as may be the issue in areas with certain types of Arctic climate. One should also keep in mind that introducing retrofitted wagons on a broad basis on continental Europe, may have ramifications for the interoperability for such wagons on networks where aforementioned Arctic climate is an issue. Therefore, one should refrain from introducing economic incentives until there is the concrete possibility to retrofit wagons that may be used freely on the entire European Rail Network.
Track Access Charges are one of the main sources for financing maintenance and upgrading of the European rail network to ensure safe operations. The compensation of the loss is not entirely possible to be funded by all national governments and therefore the existing NDTAC schemes should take into account the ability of the Member States and their relevant institutions to make national funds available. As a result, the noise differentiated track access charges could lead to higher prices for rail freight and weaken the rail competitiveness vis-à-vis other transport modes. Therefore, EIM asks the Commission to include in their evaluation an examination of the financing systems and the feasibility of reimbursing the loss.
EIM supports the evidence-based evaluation, however, we believe that the evaluation should take into account the limited number of EU countries who decided to apply the NDTAC schemes and the lack of data for proper results. Furthermore, EIM recognizes the need for international cooperation between IMs and RUs as well as wagon owners regarding the NDTAC schemes. However, in order to tackle the noise pollution at its source, the gradual replacement of cast-iron brakes with a balanced implementation end date might prove more effective.
Read full responseResponse to Recast of Regulation (EC) 1371/2007 on rail passengers' rights and obligations
21 Nov 2017
EIM and its Members are fully committed to ensuring high quality rail services for the benefit of all passengers. Therefore, EIM welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for a recast of Regulation (EU) 1371/2007 aiming at fixing the shortcomings in the effective implementation of the original piece of legislation.
As a matter of fact, a comprehensive revision of Regulation (EU) 1371/2007 offers the chance the strengthen the rights of passengers. With this proposal, the Commission aims at tackling various aspects of the Regulation, by providing amendments concerning matters such as the availability/accessibility of information; passengers’ rights in situations of delays, missed connections or train cancellation; complaints-handling procedure; the assistance to people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility (‘’PRM’’); and measures to ensure the enforcement of those rules.
EIM notices that several provisions of the new proposal target station managers and infrastructure managers by extending to them – beyond railway undertakings and ticket vendors – some of the original obligations of Regulation 1371/2007, or creating new ones. Granted, some of those new obligations has raised some concern among EIM’s Members in terms of the reasonableness behind the provision and the actual legal consistency of the proposal.
Therefore, EIM has prepared a Position Paper – attached to this feedback – with the objective to express to the European Union’s Institutions and all interested stakeholders what are the main concerns, risks and expectations for station managers and infrastructure managers.
Specifically, EIM outlined its remarks on the following elements of the Recast Regulation: travel information (Art. 9.4); the right of redress (Art. 19); information to persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility (Art. 21.1); compensation in respect of mobility equipment, other specific equipment or assistive devices (Art. 25.3); complaints-handling mechanisms (Art.28) and service quality standards (Art. 29).
All remarks made by EIM and included in the Position Paper attached are strengthened with recommendations, justifications and proposals for amendments.
Read full responseResponse to Requirements for a safety management system for railway undertakings and infrastructure managers
21 Sept 2017
The attached file describes the comments and proposals to "COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) …/... establishing common safety methods on safety management system requirements pursuant to Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulations (EU) No 1158/2010 and (EU) No 1169/2010" as presented at the EC ‘better regulation’ website. The comments and proposals are delivered by the EIM Workgroup Safety on behalf of EIM.
Read full responseResponse to REFIT evaluation of the SEA Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment
7 Aug 2017
EIM welcomes the evaluation of Directive 2001/42/EC ‘’on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment’’ (Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive) initiated by the European Commission. EIM strongly acknowledges the importance of ensuring that environmental concerns are properly taken into account in policy, plan and programme making. EIM would support a more effective, streamlined ‘’strategic environmental assessment’’ (SEA) procedure, contributing to a transparent and participatory decision making. The integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes is indeed essential to ensure better and harmonized planning procedures.
EIM would like to remark infrastructure managers are directly involved in ensuring a high level of protection of the environment and promoting sustainable development, through effective management of spatial planning processes and ensuring transparent and participative cooperation with all levels of territorial governance. EIM calls on the European Commission to take into account existing best practices in Member States during its evaluation.
EIM recognizes the need for coherence with other environmental and non-environmental legislation. Being a horizontal Directive and having formal and explicit links with the Habitats and EIA Directives as well as legislation on water, nitrates, waste, noise and air quality, an evaluation of the SEA Directive may ensure consistency among all EU programmes. However, EIM underlines the importance of avoiding duplication and overlaps between Strategic Environmental Assessment and Other environment-related legislation, and especially - the level of details of information included in SEA and EIA should be different.
Specifically, on the legislation at stake, EIM would like to point out the current definition on ‘’plans and programmes’’ to which the scope of the Directive is linked. Accordingly, should amendments to the Directive take place, EIM would recommend reviewing the definition of ‘’plans and programmes’’ in order to make it more flexible. This would account for the fact that what is considered a plan/programme differs between various sector as well as between different Member States. As a consequence, moreover, a SEA may be carried out at the level of individual projects part of an infrastructure Multi-Annual Investment Plan (MAIP) – a SEA being already required at the level of a MAIP, which is an amalgam of different projects (potentially running for a longer period than the MAIP).
Finally, EIM supports the evidence-based approach in the evaluation. Rail infrastructure managers are fully committed to contribute to the prospective public consultation and to all following steps regarding the SEA.
Read full responseResponse to Access to service facilities and rail-related services
4 Aug 2017
EIM and its Members would like to thank the European Commission for the opportunity to provide a last comment on the final draft of the implementing act ‘’Access to service facilities and rail related services’’.
First and foremost, EIM would like to express its satisfaction for the constructive negotiations undertaken by the European Commission vis-à-vis the sector during the last months. EIM is pleased to acknowledge that the majority of our remarks/comments to date have been taken into account by the Commission in its final text. Overall, EIM Members support the need for a balanced approach which promotes market entry while not going beyond what is strictly justified according to competition law principles.
Accordingly, we welcome the further modification allowing for more exemptions – from the application of all or some of the provisions of the Regulation – to be granted in those cases where market is working properly (Art. 2).
Regarding the information to be included in the service facility description (Art. 4), EIM appreciates that its recommendation to consider the level of discounts as commercially sensitive information is included in the text. When it comes to the possible involvement of the Regulator in the process, the Commission has taken note of our recommendation of the information being provided by the applicant upon request. Yet, EIM considers that the specific information stated in points (3),(4),(12) of Art. 4 relating only to one or a limited number of services and/or facilities shall not be subjected to the language requirements laid down in Art. 27 of Directive 2012/34/EU. Indeed, such information appears to be very technical and may be linked to relevant safety issues: translation of such documents would be burdensome despite of little added-value with a view to the objectives of the Regulation.
We welcome that in Art.5 the initiative to develop a common template for submission of information to IMs should be developed by Infrastructure Managers in cooperation with Regulatory Bodies. The implementing regulation could be clearer as to this process and it would seem an appropriate activity for PRIME - although given established pattern of meetings the target date of December 2017] that operators of service facilities may use to submit the information.
EIM would also like to make a general remark that the Regulation shall not impose on the operators of service facilities a certain schedule for the allocation of capacity notably regarding the cooperation on allocation of service facility capacity and its use (Article 7). As a matter of fact, EIM stresses that requiring a synchronisation of the capacity allocation on infrastructure and in service facilities is too far reaching and would unduly hamper the freedom to conduct a business as provided for in the EU Charter for Fundamental Rights. In this regard, EIM considers sufficient including a negative obligation – also avoiding inconsistencies – and would recommend replacing ‘’synchronised’’ with ‘’not inconsistent’’.
In addition, Art. 7.2 could clarify that the coordination activity be between facilities and infrastructure access, and not just facilities.
In the event that a complaint under Art. 12.5 to a regulator results in a direction to alter the rights of access to a facility, the regulator’s decision should also include reference to rights of access over connecting infrastructure and any variations required.
Art. 16 risks imposing contractual liabilities and costs on the national IMs and therefore the Regulation should only apply to contracts established after this implementing regulation takes effect; otherwise the IM should be able to seek to recover the costs of any contractual termination of pre-existing leases in the case of any re-letting triggered by this Article.
Finally EIM welcomes the deletion of the provision on a ‘’single point of contact’’ and the acknowledgment that a transition period of at least 18 months would be necessary.
Read full responseMeeting with Jocelyn Fajardo (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)
27 Jul 2017 · rail infrastructure initiative
Response to Streamlining the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)
25 Jul 2017
EIM and its Members strongly support the deployment of the Trans-European Transport Network and its objectives to close the gaps between various transport systems, remove bottlenecks to facilitate the efficient functioning of the internal market and overcome technical barriers by ensuring interoperability. EIM fully acknowledges the potential that the completion of the TEN-T has for a stronger EU economy, a smoother mobility, environmental sustainability and cross-border integration.
Granted, EIM welcomes the initiative taken by the European Commission to consult the relevant stakeholders on the potential future measures to be taken in order to streamline to completion of the Core and Comprehensive Networks. The European Commission has rightly identified several challenges which are affecting severely the implementation of the TEN-T Projects causing delays and excessive costs.
Among the policy options presented, EIM would support limited binding actions to be implemented at national level, respecting the principle of subsidiarity and allowing Member States to implement them in the most appropriate way according to their specific economic, social and legal domestic contexts. The EU-added value may still be strengthened through few binding measures coming from the European Commission. In this regard, EIM stresses that the TEN-T has an intrinsic European dimension, and its implementation must be strictly carried out within a European framework. Any binding measure should be following a positive socio-economic assessment of the benefits arising from the cost of meeting the TEN-T requirements.
Following this further, specifically, EIM would welcome the establishment of a One-Stop-Shop at national level to help to streamlining the projects pipeline, as well as the integration of administrative procedures at national level providing for much-needed clarity and stability – potentially attracting investors. The introduction of time-limits for permitting procedures would partially reduce the unjustified delays which lead to an increase of the total project costs.
Non-binding measures such as targeted technical assistance shall also apply, allowing project promoters to reach for the necessary expertise and help notably in the crucial initial phases of the project.
Among other measures which could successfully contribute to streamline the TEN-T implementation, EIM recommends ensuring adequate coordination between rail freight corridors and multimodal core network corridors in order to increase the effectiveness of TEN-T corridors and avoid unnecessary duplication of structures and related costs.
EIM would like to finally remark that, as a matter of fact, none of those envisaged policy strategies may be effective without the proper financial resources allocated to the rail sector. Rail has made, and will continue to make, the most indispensable contribution to, among others, transport interoperability, sustainability and interconnection – three of the main objectives the TEN-T network is expected to achieve. Falling short of this step would risk jeopardising at the core the completion of the TEN-T, with all sort of economic and social costs which have been already demonstrated. Accordingly, the delivery of a more realistic, viable and effective TEN-T railway network can only happen in parallel with an EU-wide agreement on the adequate CEF financing. Therefore, EIM strongly encourages the European institutions to build on the TEN-T agreement and progress the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) taking into attentive considerations the needs of rail and of the transport sector at large.
Read full responseResponse to Schedule for the rail infrastructure capacity allocation process
14 Apr 2017
The members of CER and EIM fully understand the importance of making the capacity allocation process more open and transparent. For this reason, RNE and FTE, supported by ERFA, launched the project ‘Redesign of International Timetabling (TTR)’, which aims to create exactly that: a more flexible and reliable timetabling process which responds to the needs of the market, with improved commitment to the international timetabling process, and with greater efficiency in terms of capacities and resources, leading to a better use of the existing track capacity.
CER and EIM are therefore ready to support the European Commission in designing a process which ensures more predictability for the railway undertaking and flexibility for the infrastructure managers, while taking into account the operational concerns of all stakeholders involved, and which fully reflects the main elements of TTR. The sector has, however, identified a few elements in the Commission proposal which are incompatible with TTR. The main aim of the attached CER/EIM position paper is to highlight those elements and to propose an alternative wording which would be compatible with TTR.
In the latest draft of the Delegated Act, the Commission still proposes setting up a two rounds application period. This is justified with the need to give applicants the chance to submit late requests for capacity to be incorporated in the annual working timetable. CER and EIM members believe, however, that such a system will be too rigid, increase the administrative and operational burdens of all stakeholders, and will not deliver the desired goal. In line with the rolling calendar approach of TTR, the sector proposes that capacity requests made at any time after the annual deadline should be taken into account by the infrastructure manager. Furthermore, to avoid any possible discrimination, there should only be one common rule for all infrastructure managers.
CER and EIM support the goal of giving applicants a chance to prepare and adapt to temporary capacity restrictions (TCRs) in due time. In this regard, we urge the Commission to take into account the ‘TTR project, which defines three types of TCR impact clusters on applicants and outlines the timeline and obligations associated with these clusters. All members of CER and EIM fully support the TTR Project, into which the sector has invested considerable time, effort and recourses over the last years. The TTR technical input reflects the experience made by the sector, as requested in Article 43 of Directive 2012/34/EU. In the attached EIM/CER joint position paper, we have built our proposal on the basis of the latest update of the TTR/TCRs project, which was amended by the project manager after conducting trial runs.
Finally, CER and EIM understand the Commission’s goal to have the new provisions adopted on time for the Timetable 2019. We believe, however, that the proposal contains several provisions which warrant a derogation from the rule proposed by the Commission i.e. that the act enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication. EIM and CER call on the Commission to foresee a transition period for the application of the Act, which would give the sector enough time to adapt to the new rules and to meet all the timelines required by Annex VII (e.g. x-24, X-18, X-12). Therefore, we suggest that the annex becomes effective 2 1/2 years before the working timetable where the rules have to be applied for the first time.
Read full responseMeeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)
11 Apr 2016 · Multi-modal infrastructure management & Europan agency, Digitalisation