1978R2183 — EN — 01.01.1995 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 2183/78
of 19 September 1978
laying down uniform costing principles for railway undertakings
(OJ L 258, 21.9.1978, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EEC) No 3572/90 of 4 December 1990 L 353 12 17.12.1990
Amended by:
►A1Act of Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A2Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal L 302 23 15.11.1985
►A3Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland C 241 21 29.8.1994
(adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1.1.1995
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 2183/78
of 19 September 1978
laying down uniform costing principles for railway undertakings
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Havingreg ard to the Treaty establishingthe European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 75 thereof,
Havingreg ard to Council Decision 75/327/EEC of 20 May 1975 on the
improvement of the situation of railway undertakings and the harmon-ization of rules governing financial relations between such undertakingsand States(
1), and in particular Article 8 (2) thereof,
Havingreg ard to the proposal from the Commission,Havingreg ard to the opinion of the European Parliament(
2),
Havingreg ard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3),
Whereas the establishment of uniform costingprinciples for railway
undertakings should ensure closer cooperation between them and contri-bute to the improvement of their financial situation;
Whereas it is preferable as a first step to limit the scope of this costing
to international goods traffic in full train loads;
Whereas the information provided by cost calculations based on
common principles and its exchange between the railway undertakingsconcerned are of importance in the takingof commercial decisions onthe conditions for acceptingor refusinginternational freig ht traffic orthe termination of existingtraffic;
Whereas, in order to assist the Commission in studyingthe application
of uniform costingprinciples and of measures leadingto furtherimprovements, an Advisory Committee should be set up,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The uniform costingprinciples for railway undertaking s estab-
lished by this Regulation shall apply to international freight transportcarried in full train loads.
2. ‘International freight transport'means transport of freight by trains
usingthe networks of at least two Member States, movingby rail ortrain ferry throughout.
3. ‘Carried in full train loads'means that the consignment comprises
several wagon loads offered for carriage at the same time by the samesender at the same station, and forwarded directly as a full train to thesame consignee at the same destination station.
Article 2
This Regulation shall apply to the following railway undertakings:
▼
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— Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges (SNCB)/Nationale
Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS),
(1) OJ No L 152, 12. 6. 1975, p. 3.
(2) OJ No C 266, 7. 11. 1977, p. 14.
(3) OJ No C 18, 23. 1. 1978, p. 30.
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— Danske Statsbaner (DSB),
— Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB),— Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR),—Οργανισµός Σιδηροδρόµων Ελλάδος (ΟΣΕ),
— Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (RENFE),— Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF),— Iarnród Éireann,— Ente Ferrovie dello Stato (FS),— Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL),— Naamloze Vernootschap Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS),
▼
A3
— Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB),
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— Caminhos-de-Ferro Portugueses, EP (CP),
▼A3
— Valtionrautatiet/Statsjärnvägarna (VR),— Statens järnvägar (SJ),
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M1
— British Rail (BR),— Northern Ireland Railways (NIR).
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Article 3
1. From 1 January 1979, the railway undertakings shall calculate the
costs of the freight transport referred to in Article 1 in accordance withthe followingg eneral principle.
‘Costs'shall be the change in the total costs of the railway undertaking
resultingfrom the introduction of new traffic, from an increase or areduction in existingtraffic or from the termination of such traffic.‘Change' means:
— for new traffic or for an increased volume of existingtraffic, the
additional costs to the railway undertakingresultingfrom the accep-tance of such traffic,
— for existingtraffic the termination of which is beingconsidered or
for a reduction in volume of existingtraffic, the saving s in costsresultingfrom the termination or reduction of such traffic.
2. In addition to the calculation of costs in accordance with the
general principle set out in paragraph 1, the railway undertakings shallcalculate the total costs defined in Annex IV, provided however, eitherthat the railway undertakinguses them for the railway activities coveredby this Regulation or that there is agreement with the other railwayundertakings participating in the same traffic that they should be calcu-lated.
Article 4
1. Costs shall be calculated for the same period as the expected
duration of the traffic beingcosted and takinginto account theeconomic conditions forecast for that period.
2. Costs shall be calculated with reference to the standard list in
Annex I, on the basis of the guidelines in Annex II and taking intoaccount the various traffic characteristics of which an indicative list isgiven in Annex III.
3. For the purpose of calculatingcosts, railway undertaking s may use
the standard bases for cost calculation defined in Annex IV.
Article 5
Within the limits of their commercial responsibility, railway undertak-
ings participating in international freight transport as defined in Article1 shall communicate to the other railway undertakings participating inthe same traffic, on a basis of reciprocity, at the latter’s request and in
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confidence, the information referred to in Article 3 and shall indicatethe bases used for the calculation.
Article 6
1. An Advisory Committee shall be set up to assist the Commission
in studyingthe application of the principles set out in this Reg ulation.
2. The Committee shall give its opinion on any question relating to
the implementation of this Regulation and shall study measuresdesigned to improve the provisions thereof.
3. The Committee shall be chaired by a representative of the
Commission and shall consist of two representatives designated by eachMember State. The members of the Committee may be assisted byexperts designated by them. The Committee shall be convened by theCommission which shall provide the necessary secretarial services.
4. The Committee’s conclusions shall be set out in the report which
the Commission will submit to the Council every two years pursuant toArticle 14 (1) of Decision 75/327/EEC
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.
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ANNEX I

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ANNEX II
Guidelines for implementing the principles laid down in Article 3
The costs itemized in Annex I shall be calculated in accordance with the
followingg uidelines:
1. Costingshall as far as possible take into account:
— the characteristics of the traffic in question and all movements and opera-
tions associated with such traffic,
— the context in which costingis to take place (and in particular the deg ree
of saturation of the capacity of installations).
2. Costingshall be done takinginto account the resources committed to take
account of the variation of traffic under consideration and in particular:
— whether the resources exist specifically for the traffic in question or in
any case for other types of traffic,
— the circumstances in which the resources may have to be modified,— the extent to which changes in staff and rolling stock are required.
3. Consideration shall be given as far as possible to the fact that the circum-
stances in which the traffic is moved may change during the period underreview.
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ANNEX III
Indicative list of the traffic characteristics and the specific data of each
railway undertaking concerned to be considered in calculating costs
I.General traffic characteristics
— nature and volume of traffic to be conveyed,
— kind of traffic: regular, seasonal, or occasional,— frequency and duration of the transport,— forwardingand destination stations of the consig nment,— route followed by the traffic and by any wagons returning empty,— class of service,— number of wagons per train,— category, type and characteristics of wagons used: railway or privately-
owned — covered, open, flat, etc. — tare weight, length, etc.,
— weight of consignment and average load of wagons,— return factor and factor for empty wagons.
II.Specific data of the railway undertakings participating in the traffic
— distances run on railway lines owned by the undertaking(loaded or
empty),
— turn-round times of wagons,— shuntingof loaded traffic and, where applicable, of empty return wag ons
(on departure, on arrival, duringjourney),
— for each part of the line:
— distance run,— capacity of the line on account of the gradients,— category of the line used by the traffic with reference to the mainte-
nance cycle,
— traction units used (method, class),— distances run by traction units (includingassisted journeys and
distances run light),
— gross trailing tonnage of trains (authorized and actual weight),— rostered hours of staff (driving, manning, etc.).
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ANNEX IV
Standard bases for cost calculation
For the purpose of calculatingcosts in accordance with Article 3, railway
undertakings may, as appropriate, use the following bases, which should beindicated in the cost communication referred to in Article 5:
For the cost calculation referred to in Article 3 (1):
— variable costs, i.e. all the costs which vary with the number of activities
carried out or of services rendered,
— direct costs, i.e. all the costs which may be allocated directly without
applyingallocation formulae to an activity or g roup of activities or to aservice or group of services,
— avoidable costs, i.e. costs which would be avoided if the service or activity
beingcosted did not exist.
For the cost calculation referred to in Article 3 (2):Total costs: all the costs of the undertakingshould be allocated amongits various
activities, usingwhere necessary formulae relatingto those activities, so that thetotal costs for the relevant period are fully taken into account.
Total costs for the relevant period should be taken to mean the costs by type as
shown in Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 2830/77 after deduction ofcompensation received for the purpose of normalizingaccounts and of paymentswhich are expressly defined in Community Regulations on transport aid as ‘aid'and cannot be equated with revenue, provided that networks which make no suchdeductions in the field of cost calculation indicate this fact in the communicationreferred to in Article 5.