The new rules on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in Europe, commonly known as the Capacity Management Regulation, have been published in the EU’s Official Journal. This means that, as of tomorrow, the shift towards an EU-wide rail capacity planning can start.
The new regulation introduces the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) and the European Railway Platform (ERP). One will bring together the IMs active in the Member States to create rail timetables that give more importance to cross-border traffic, ideally putting European interests before the national ones. The latter will act as a unified voice for the users of the infrastructure, making sure that their needs are met.
Baby steps
The first timetable under this new framework is expected for December 2030. Some of the aspects of the Capacity Management Regulation will be fully implemented between now and then. For example, the digital infrastructure for capacity allocation, traffic management and the exchange of data and information will have to be ready only at the end of 2027. By 2030, IMs will have to provide applicants and regulatory bodies with “up-to-date information on the availability of railway infrastructure capacity”.
This Regulation is part of the Greening Freight Package, made up of four components. Together with the deployment of the Electronic Freight Transport Information (eFTI) have been warmly welcomed by the rail freight industry. The other two components, the Combined Transport Directive and the Weights and Dimensions Directive, are instead creating worries and stress across the sector. The current state of both these initiatives, many claims, will mostly benefit road freight, damaging other transport modes and contradicting the goals set by the EU.