29 November 2023
On the 29th of November, the EU Parliament Transport Committee discussed the draft report on the railway capacity regulation. The rapporteur, MEP Tilly Metz (Greens), emphasised the urgent need to decarbonise the transport sector.
The main objective of the draft report is to enhance the position of infrastructure users, establish a more transparent governance structure and optimise the efficiency of the existing rail infrastructure. While acknowledging the importance of the Commission's proposal, MEP Metz argued that a higher level of ambition was needed to effectively achieve the outlined objectives.
She emphasised the importance of not only building new infrastructure, but also of ensuring the maximum efficiency of the infrastructures currently in operation. Among other things, she underlined the need to provide flexibility for freight services and to ensure the full utilisation of reserved railway lines.
The draft report also includes a provision according to which the Infrastructure Managers (IMs) are required to offer alternative capacity to their initial supply plans, thus providing greater flexibility to meet dynamic market demands. The Committee intends to formalise its position early next year, before the European elections.
FEPORT welcomes this proposal which aims at creating an efficient and reliable railway system and the conditions for an effective coordination. These two objectives are prerequisites for terminal operators to be able to offer multi-modal transport solutions to their customers. Coordination should involve all relevant stakeholders (infrastructure managers, railway undertakings and terminals) and should not be at the detriment of terminal operators’ capacity to independently negotiate contracts with railway undertakings.