Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on rail transport statistics
Date: 2000-02-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, combined transport, common transport policy, rail transport, transport statistics

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 14.02.2001
COM(2000) 798 final/2

2001/0048 (COD)

CORRIGENDUM
La cote interinstitutionnelle du document
COM(2000)798 final du 12.02.2001 doit se
lire 2001/0048 (COD) et non 2000/0315 (COD)
Concerne les 11 versions linguistiques.

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on rail transport statistics

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

OVERALL JUSTIFICATION AND OBJECTIVE

1.

2.

3.

4.

1

2

3

4

5

The promotion of rail transport is an important part of the Common Transport Policy,
on the grounds both of economic efficiency and of reducing the energy consumption
and the environmental impacts of transport. This overall objective has been pursued
in a series of Community measures, notably Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the
development of the Community's railways1, and in Commission strategy documents
such as the white paper on A strategy for revitalising the Community's railways2. In
1998, the Commission proposed a further package of measures to reinforce Directive
91/4403. These measures are currently before the European Parliament and the
Council4.

In addition, rail transport has also been promoted by major investments in railway
infrastructure under the transport part of the Trans-European Networks and the
Structural and Cohesion funds.

Community statistics on rail transport are needed to monitor developments in the rail
industry, in order both to assess the effects of the Community actions mentioned in
Paragraph 1 and also to support the preparation of future actions.

In particular, statistics on rail transport will be an important input for a European
system for the observation of the rail market as provided for in the Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on
the development of the Community's railways4.

The improvement of rail safety is an another increasingly important element of
Community policies on rail transport. The provision of harmonised safety data is a
for
fundamental precondition for monitoring the development of
comparison of safety performance between modes of transport and for benchmarking
between Member States and between railway undertakings. The lack of comparable
statistical information in this area has been a widely recognised shortcoming of rail
statistics, which will be remedied by this Regulation.

rail safety,

Statistics on rail transport are collected under Council Directive 80/11775, but this
legal act has some shortcomings:

–

–

it covers only freight transport, whereas Community actions on rail transport
also require data on passenger transport and on safety;

it includes a list of railway administrations for which data are to be compiled.
With the restructuring of the rail industry into infrastructure managers and
operators (railway undertakings), and the entry into the market of new
operators, certain of these former railway administrations no longer exist, while

OJ L 237, 24.8.1991 p. 25.
COM(96)421 final, 30.7.1996.
COM(98)480 final, 22.7.1998.
See COM(2000)575 final, 15.9.2000.
OJ L 350, 23.12.1980, p. 23.

2

others have changed their functions and now share the market with operators
which are not on the list;

the statistics to be compiled do not correspond to the present needs in this
domain;

significant quality problems have been identified in these statistics;

there is no provision for adaptation of the Directive via a committee procedure.

–

–

–

The regional dimension of Community actions to promote rail transport also justifies
a more detailed regional breakdown than is available under Directive 80/1117, so
that freight and passenger flows can in future be described on a region to region basis
across the EU.

These shortcomings have, taken together, made it necessary to propose a replacement
for Directive 80/1177.

5.

6.

In addition to the statistics specified in Directive 80/1177, some other statistics on
rail transport are supplied by Member States to Eurostat on a voluntary basis. When
considering how to replace Directive 80/1177, one option was to collect all rail
transport statistics on a voluntary basis. This option was rejected on the grounds that
in a commercial rail market, all operators needed to have clear legally-binding
obligations which would apply to all operators without the risk of commercial
disadvantage to any one operator supplying data on a voluntary basis.

A new legal act
in this domain also provides the opportunity to introduce a
committee procedure, and to clarify the role of national authorities in compiling these
statistics and transmitting them to Eurostat.

LEGAL BASE AND FORM OF THE PROPOSED ACT

7.

8.

The proposed legal base for the Regulation on rail transport statistics is Article 285
of the Treaty, on Community statistics. The proposal is included in the Commission's
Work Programme for 20006.

The new legal act takes the form of a Regulation rather than a Directive, since it is
transposition into
intended to be directly applicable in Member States without
national law. This does not affect the freedom of national authorities to compile the
specified statistics using methods which take account of the different conditions
existing in Member States. The use of a Regulation is in line with other statistical
legal acts which have been adopted since 1997.

KEY FEATURES OF THE REGULATION

9.

6

The Regulation sets out to define a set of common rules for rail transport statistics
together with a set of annexes specifying a set of statistical tables. The rules cover
definitions, provisions for data collection, transmission and dissemination, and a

COM(2000)155 final, Annex, Programme N° 2000/233.

3

committee procedure for the adoption of implementing measures and for later
adaptation of the Regulation. They also include provisions for maintaining the
quality of the statistics, for evaluation and for reporting to the European Parliament
and the Council. Furthermore, the Regulation includes provisions relating to the
coverage of rail transport by the Regulation.

Definitions are set out in Article 2. Additional technical definitions needed to ensure
a reasonable level of harmonisation will be adopted via the committee procedure
(Article 11), while recognising that it is not practicable to impose legally binding
definitions of all terms used in statistical data collection. In the area of accident
statistics (Annex H), it was evident that differing national practice makes it necessary
to allow reporting according to current national definitions for a period of five years,
although conformity to common definitions is the long-term objective.

For data collection, Article 5 of the Regulation aims at a highly flexible approach, in
order to minimize the costs for national authorities and operators, and to take
advantage of existing data collection activities. Although national authorities remain
responsible for coordination and quality control, other designated organizations may
participate in data collection. For example, it is expected that some Member States
will choose to collect rail transport statistics through the infrastructure manager
(which will in any case collect some of these data for its own purposes). It is also
possible that
some Member States will choose to designate professional
organisations for this purpose. It is also made clear that different types of data
sources may be freely combined to achieve the specified statistical results.

As in other statistical legal acts, the technical arrangements for transmission of
statistics to Eurostat (Article 6) are to be adopted later via the committee procedure.
This is desirable in order for the code lists and file formats to be discussed with
Member States and tested before definitive versions are adopted.

On dissemination (Article 7), the Regulation provides for the dissemination of all
data collected under Annexes A-H, subject to safeguards for data for which railway
undertakings explicitly request special treatment on grounds of confidentiality. The
level of detail in the proposed tables has been deliberately limited in order to
facilitate dissemination without revealing commercially sensitive information.

The information reported according to Annex I cannot be disseminated unless
specific provisions to this effect are adopted later via the committee procedure.

The provisions on quality and on reports (Articles 8 and 9) are designed to
emphasize, first, the importance of non-binding methodological recommendations to
complement the legal act in supporting the improvement of statistical quality as the
Regulation is implemented, and second, the evaluation of quality, costs and benefits
for these statistics.

The committee procedure (Articles 10-11) will ensure that the provisions of the
Regulation can be adjusted in the light of experience as it
is implemented. In
particular, Eurostat will propose harmonised technical definitions, rules for the
application of simplified reporting, and technical standards for data transmission
once these have been fully tested. The Commission proposes a regulatory procedure

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

4

as the most appropriate type of procedure in this case, in conformity with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC7.

16.

The coverage of the Regulation is the subject of a number of provisions. Article 2
states the overall objective of complete coverage of railways in the European Union,
with each Member State reporting on rail transport on its national territory. Where an
operator is active in more than one Member State - a situation which will become
increasingly common - the national authorities will request the operator to provide
data separately for each country in which it operates, in order to compile the national
data.

In the interests of cost-efficiency, Member States may also exclude from their
reporting certain categories of minor railways and also the smallest operators up to a
cumulative threshold of 2% of the market. If necessary,
this threshold can be
adjusted via the committee procedure. Although the exclusion of the smallest
operators does result in a small bias in the statistics, the resulting situation will still
be a considerable improvement on presently available data, which often omit data on
quite large operators.

In order to reduce costs for smaller operators, there are also provisions for simplified
reporting (Article 4, Annexes B and D). The rules for the application of simplified
reporting are to be adopted via the committee procedure.

In this context, Annex I provides the list of railway undertakings covered by each of
the Annexes, in order to ensure that the statistical tables can be correctly interpreted
by users.

17.

The Regulation provides for a completely new set of Community statistics on rail
passenger transport. Specific data requirements for passenger transport are laid out
in Annexes C and D; these have been designed to take account of the methodological
constraints on collection of rail passenger data. Additional statistics on rail passenger
transport,
for example distinguishing high-speed services or separating urban
services from inter-city services, are envisaged for the future but are not included at
present since Eurostat considers it necessary to develop the methodology for such
statistics through voluntary reporting.

DATA TO BE COLLECTED

18.

19.

The data to be collected are specified in Annexes A-H (Article 4). The main annual
tables for freight and passenger transport are in Annexes A-D, while key
quarterly indicators are specified in Annex E. Intermodal freight transport
statistics are now included in Annexes A and B.

Annexes F and G are intended to provide data on regional patterns of rail transport,
including region to region flows at NUTS 2 level and flows on the rail network.

The network flow data are similar in nature to those currently collected for road
transport through the 5-yearly E-road censuses coordinated by UNECE; Eurostat
intends to recommend an appropriate methodology for collecting such data for rail

7

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999 p. 23.

5

networks, based on experience gained during a study in 1997-1998 and work in
progress at UNECE. Annex G therefore provides the necessary legal base for this
work, but without a fully detailed specification of the data to be provided.

COSTS AND BENEFITS OF THE REGULATION

20.

21.

22

23.

24.

25.

Implementation of the Regulation will impose some additional costs on the national
authorities responsible for transport statistics and on railway undertakings.

In some Member States,
the national authorities are already responsible for
compiling Community statistics on rail transport, including both data supplied under
Council Directive 80/11777 and also data supplied to Eurostat on a voluntary basis.
For these countries, the additional costs for Annexes A-F will be small since the total
volume of data to be compiled will increase only slightly, mainly to cover new
operators which have not previously been included in the statistics.

In other Member States, the data specified in Council Directive 80/1177 have been
transmitted directly to Eurostat by the main railway undertaking which succeeded the
former railway administration. For these countries, national authorities will under the
Regulation assume additional responsibilities for coordination and for data quality,
although the collection of data may be delegated according to the provisions of
Article 5. Such involvement by the national authorities is essential in order to
guarantee the coverage and quality of rail transport statistics when a number of
commercial operators are active in the national rail transport market; therefore, for
these countries, some additional costs for national authorities are unavoidable.

Rail operators will have to extract data from their internal information systems and
generate summary reports for transmission to the national authority responsible for
compiling rail statistics and transmitting them to Eurostat. In practice, most operators
are already producing such reports for their own management and shareholders, and
the
are already supplying such data to professional organizations such as
International Union of Railways (UIC). Therefore the additional costs for enterprises
should be small.

The provisions for simplified reporting by smaller operators will also help to reduce
the costs of implementation both for operators and for national authorities.

Compilation of the data specified in Annexes F and G will involve some further costs
for all Member States and operators, but these data are not to be collected every year,
so that the average cost per year remains reasonable in relation to the value of the
information.

In addition to the main justification for this Regulation referred to in Paragraphs 1-5,
the Community statistics to be collected under this Regulation will also be of benefit
to a range of users in Member States, including the rail operators. Benefits that have
been identified in the course of discussions with interested parties include:

–

–

information on the rail transport market;

information which can be used by operators to benchmark their operations
against the industry average;

6

–

information which can be used in seeking finance for major projects.
to banks since it gives
Independently validated statistical data is useful
objective information on the viability of projects.

7

2001/0048 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on rail transport statistics

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article
285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission8,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee9,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions10,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty11,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

8

9

10

11

12

13

Railways are an important part of the Community's transport networks.

The Commission needs statistics on the transport of goods and passengers by rail in
order to monitor and develop the common transport policy, as well as the transport
elements of policies on the regions and on trans-European networks.

Statistics on rail safety are required by the Commission in order to prepare and
monitor Community actions in the field of transport safety.

Community statistics on rail transport are also required for a European system for the
observation of the rail market as provided for in Directive xx/xxx/EEC of the
European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on
the development of the Community's railways12.

Community statistics on all modes of transport should be collected according to
common concepts and standards, with the aim of achieving the fullest practicable
comparability between transport modes.

The restructuring of the rail industry under Council Directive 91/440/EEC13, as well as
changes in the type of information required by the Commission and by other users of

OJ C , , p. .
OJ C , , p. .
OJ C , , p. .
OJ C , , p. .
OJ L , , p. .
OJ L 237, 24.8.1991, p. 25.

8

Community statistics on rail transport, renders obsolete the provisions of Council
Directive 80/1177/EEC14 in relation to the collection of statistics from specified
administrations of main rail networks.

The coexistence of publicly and privately owned railway undertakings operating in a
commercial rail transport market requires an explicit specification of the statistical
information which should be provided by all railway undertakings and disseminated
by Eurostat.

In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity laid down in Article 5 of the Treaty,
the creation of common statistical standards that permit the production of harmonized
data is an action which can only be undertaken efficiently at Community level;
whereas such standards shall be implemented in each Member State under the
authority of the bodies and institutions in charge of producing official statistics.

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics 15
provides a reference framework for the provisions laid down by this Regulation.

Since the measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation are measures
of general scope within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of
28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission16, they should be adopted by use of the regulatory
procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision.

Statistical

The
by
Decision 89/382 (EEC/Euratom) 17 has been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of
the aforesaid Decision.

Programme

Committee

established

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Objective

The objective of this Regulation is to establish common rules for the production of
Community statistics relating to rail transport.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall cover all railways in the European Union. Each Member State shall
report statistics which relate to transport on its national territory. Member States may exclude
from the scope of this Regulation

14

15

16

17

OJ L 350, 23.12.1980, p. 23.
OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1.
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, P. 23.
OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

9

–

–

–

1.

–

–

–

2.

1.

railway undertakings which operate entirely or mainly within industrial and similar
installations, including harbours,

railway undertakings which mainly provide local tourist services, such as preserved
historical steam railways,

other railway undertakings which collectively account for less than 2% of the total
rail freight or rail passenger transport in the reporting country, measured in tonne-km
and passenger-km respectively. This threshold may be adapted in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

'reporting country': the Member State transmitting data to Eurostat.

'national authorities': national statistical institutes and other bodies responsible in
each Member State for producing Community statistics.

'railway undertaking': any public or private undertaking which provides services for
the transport of goods and/or passengers by rail.

The definitions referred to in paragraph 1 may be adapted, and additional definitions
needed to ensure harmonisation of statistics may be adopted, in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 4

Data collection

The statistics to be collected are set out in the Annexes to this Regulation. They shall
cover the following types of data:

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

annual statistics on goods transport - detailed reporting (Annex A)

annual statistics on goods transport - simplified reporting (Annex B)

annual statistics on passenger transport - detailed reporting (Annex C)

annual statistics on passenger transport - simplified reporting (Annex D)

quarterly statistics on goods and passenger transport (Annex E)

regional statistics on goods and passenger transport (Annex F)

statistics on traffic flows on the rail network (Annex G)

statistics on accidents (Annex H)

10

2.

Annexes B and D set out simplified reporting requirements, which may be used by
Member States as alternatives to the normal detailed reporting set out in Annexes. A
and C respectively. The rules to be applied by Member States in determining which
undertakings may be covered by simplified reporting shall be adopted in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 11, paragraph 2.

3.

For each type of data, the corresponding annex specifies:

–

–

–

–

–

–

the list of variables and the corresponding units of measurement

the reference periods and frequency

the list of tables with the breakdown for each table

the deadlines for transmission of data

the first reference period for which data are to be transmitted

where necessary, additional notes

Member States shall also provide a list of the railway undertakings for which
statistics are provided, as specified in Annex I.

For the purposes of the present Regulation, goods shall be classified in accordance
with Annex J. Dangerous goods shall additionally be classified in accordance with
Annex K.

The contents of the annexes may be adapted, in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 5

Data sources

Member States may designate any public or private organization to participate in
collecting the data required under this Regulation.

The necessary data may be obtained using any combination of the following sources:

–

–

–

–

–

compulsory surveys

administrative data, including data collected by regulatory authorities

statistical estimation procedures

data supplied to professional organizations in the rail industry

ad hoc studies

4.

5.

6.

1.

2.

3.

The national authorities shall take measures for the coordination of the data sources
used and to ensure the quality of the statistics transmitted to Eurostat.

11

Article 6

Transmission of statistics to Eurostat

Member States shall transmit to Eurostat the statistics referred to in Article 4.

The arrangements for transmission of the statistics referred to in Article 4 shall be
laid down in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 7

Dissemination

The data specified in Annexes A-H to this Regulation shall be disseminated by
Eurostat. However, on a request by a railway undertaking to the national authorities,
data which enable the undertaking to be identified indirectly and which are not
available to the public at national level, shall not be disseminated or shall be re-
arranged so that their dissemination is not prejudicial to the maintenance of statistical
confidentiality. Such requests, with the necessary supporting information, shall be
notified to Eurostat by the national authorities.

The information reported under Annex I shall not be disseminated except to the
extent that specific provisions for such dissemination are laid down in accordance
with the procedure specified in Article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 8

Quality of statistics

In order to assist Member States in maintaining the quality of statistics in this
domain, Eurostat shall develop and publish methodological recommendations. These
recommendations shall take account of the best practices of national authorities, of
railway undertakings and of professional organisations for the railway industry.

The quality of the statistical data shall be evaluated by Eurostat. To this end, on
request by Eurostat, Member States shall supply information on the methods used in
producing the statistics.

1.

2.

1.

2.

1.

2.

Article 9

Report

After data have been collected over three years, the Commission shall send a report to the
European Parliament and to the Council on experience acquired in the work carried out under
this Regulation. This report shall include the results of the quality evaluation referred to in
Article 8. It shall also evaluate the benefits of the availability of statistics in this domain, the
costs of obtaining such statistics and the burden on enterprises.

12

Article 10

Implementing procedures

The following implementing measures shall be taken in accordance with the procedure
specified in Article 11, paragraph 2:

–

–

–

–

–

–

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

adaptation of the threshold for statistical coverage of rail transport (Article 2)

adaptation of the definitions and adoption of additional definitions (Article 3),

adaptation of the contents of the annexes (Article 4),

adoption of rules for the application of simplified reporting (Article 4),

arrangements for transmitting data to Eurostat (Article 6),

the dissemination of the information reported under Annex I (Article 7).

Article 11

Procedure

The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee instituted
by Article 1 of Council Decision 89/382/EEC,Euratom18.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in
Article 5 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC19 shall apply, in compliance with Article
7 paragraph 3 and Article 8 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 5 paragraph 6 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be three months.

Article 12

Directive 80/1177/EEC

Member States shall provide results for
Directive 80/1177/EEC.

the year 2001 in accordance with

Directive 80/1177/EEC is hereby repealed with effect from 1 January 2002.

18

19

OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.
OJ L 184, 17.7.1999 p. 23.

13

Article 13

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in
the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament
The President

For the Council
The President

14

ANNUAL STATISTICS ON GOODS TRANSPORT - DETAILED REPORTING

ANNEX A

List of variables and
units of
measurement

goods transported in:
- tonnes
- tonne-km

number of intermodal transport units carried in:
- number
-TEU (for containers and swap bodies)

Reference period

year

Frequency

every year

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Table A1: goods transported, by type of transport

Table A2: goods transported, by type of goods (Annex
J)

Table A3: goods transported (for international and
transit traffic) by country of loading and country of
unloading

Table A4: goods transported, by category of dangerous
goods (Annex K)

Table A5: goods transported, by type of consignment

Table A6: goods transported in intermodal transport
units, by type of transport and by type of transport unit

Table A7: number of loaded intermodal transport units
carried, by type of transport and by type of transport
unit

Table A8: number of empty intermodal transport units
carried, by type of transport and by type of transport
unit

Deadline for
transmission of data

5 months after end of reference period

First reference
period

2002

15

Notes

1. Type of transport is broken down as follows:
- national
- international-incoming
- international-outgoing
- transit

2. Type of consignment is broken down as follows:
- full train loads
- full wagon loads
- other

3. Type of transport unit is broken down as follows:
- containers and swap bodies
- semi-trailers (unaccompanied)
- road vehicles (accompanied)

4. For Table A3, Eurostat and the Member States may
make arrangements to facilitate consolidation of data
originating from undertakings in other Member States,
in order to ensure the coherence of these data.

5. For Table A4, Member States shall indicate which
categories of traffic, if any, are not covered by the data.

16

ANNUAL STATISTICS ON GOODS TRANSPORT - SIMPLIFIED REPORTING

ANNEX B

List of variables and
units of
measurement

goods transported in
- tonnes
- tonne-km

Reference period

Year

Frequency

every year

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Deadline for
transmission of data

Table B1: goods transported, by type of transport

Table B2: goods transported in intermodal transport
units, by type of transport

5 months after end of reference period

First reference
period

2002

Notes

1. Type of transport is broken down as follows:
- national
- international-incoming
- international-outgoing
- transit

17

ANNUAL STATISTICS ON PASSENGER TRANSPORT - DETAILED REPORTING

ANNEX C

List of variables and
units of
measurement

passengers transported in:
- number of passengers
- passenger-km

Reference period

Year

Frequency

every year

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Table C1: passengers transported, by type of transport
(provisional data, number of passengers only)

Table C2: international passengers transported, by
country of embarkation and by country of
disembarkation (provisional data, number of passengers
only).

Table C3: passengers transported, by type of transport
(final consolidated data)

Table C4: international passengers transported, by
country of embarkation and by country of
disembarkation (final consolidated data, number of
passengers only).

Deadline for
transmission of data

8 months after end of reference period (Tables C1, C2)

14 months after end of reference period (Tables C3, C4)

First reference
period

Notes

2003

1. Type of transport is broken down as follows:
- national
- international

2. For Tables C1 and C2, Member States may report
provisional data based on ticket sales in the reporting
country only. For Tables C3 and C4, Member States
shall report final consolidated data including
information from ticket sales outside the reporting
country. This information may be obtained either
directly from the national authorities of other countries
or through international compensation arrangements for
tickets.

18

ANNEX D

ANNUAL STATISTICS ON PASSENGER TRANSPORT - SIMPLIFIED
REPORTING

List of variables and
units of
measurement

passengers transported in:
- number of passengers
- passenger-km

Reference period

Year

Frequency

every year

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Deadline for
transmission of data

First reference
period

Notes

Table D1: passengers transported

8 months after end of reference period

2003

1. For Table D1, Member States may report data based
on ticket sales in the reporting country only, as for Table
C1.

19

QUARTERLY STATISTICS ON GOODS AND PASSENGER TRANSPORT

ANNEX E

List of variables and
units of
measurement

goods transported in:
- tonnes
- tonne-km

passengers transported in:
- number of passengers
- passenger-km

Reference period

Quarter

Frequency

every quarter

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Deadline for
transmission of data

First reference
period

Notes

Table E1: goods transported

Table E2: passengers transported

3 months after end of reference period

First quarter of 2002

1. Tables E1 and E2 may be reported on the basis of
provisional data, including estimates. For Table E2,
Member States may report data based on ticket sales in
the reporting country only.

2. These statistics shall be supplied for the undertakings
covered by Annexes A and C.

20

REGIONAL STATISTICS ON GOODS AND PASSENGER TRANSPORT

ANNEX F

List of variables and
units of
measurement

goods transported in:
- tonnes

passengers transported in:
- number of passengers

Reference period

one year

Frequency

every 5 years

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Table F1: national goods transport by region of loading
and region of unloading (NUTS 2)

Table F2: international goods transport by region of
loading and unloading (NUTS 2)

Table F3: national passenger transport by region of
embarkation and region of disembarkation (NUTS 2)

Table F4: international passenger transport by region of
embarkation and region of disembarkation (NUTS 2)

Deadline for
transmission of data

12 months after end of reference period

First reference
period

2003

Notes

1. Where the place of loading or unloading (Tables F1,
F2) or embarkation or disembarkation (Tables F3, F4) is
outside the European Economic Area, Member States
shall report only the country.

2. In order to assist Member States in the preparation of
these tables, Eurostat shall provide Member States with
a list of UIC station codes and the corresponding NUTS
codes.

3. For Tables F3 and F4, Member States may report data
based on ticket sales.

4. These statistics shall be supplied for the undertakings
covered by Annexes A and C.

21

ANNEX G

STATISTICS ON TRAFFIC FLOWS ON THE RAIL NETWORK

List of variables and
units of
measurement

goods transport:
- number of trains

passenger transport:
- number of trains

Reference period

one year

Frequency

every five years

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Deadline for
transmission of data

First reference
period

Notes

Table G1: goods transport, by network segment

Table G2: passenger transport, by network segment

18 months after end of reference period

2005

1. Member States shall define a set of network segments
to include at least the rail TEN on their national
territory. They shall communicate to Eurostat:
- the geographical coordinates and other data needed to
identify and map each network segment as well as the
links between segments;
- information on the characteristics (including the
capacity) of the trains using each network segment.

2. Each network segment which is part of the rail Trans-
European Network (TEN) shall be identified by means
of an additional attribute in the data record, in order to
enable traffic on the rail TEN to be quantified.

22

ANNEX H

STATISTICS ON ACCIDENTS

List of variables and
units of
measurement

- number of accidents (Tables H1, H2)

- number of persons killed (Table H3)

- number of persons seriously injured (Table H4)

Reference period

Year

Frequency

every year

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Table H1: number of accidents, by type of accident

Table H2: number of accidents involving the transport
of dangerous goods

Table H3: number of persons killed, by type of accident
and by category of person

Table H4: number of persons seriously injured, by type
of accident and by category of person

Deadline for
transmission of data

5 months after end of reference period

First reference
period

2002

Note

1. Type of accident is broken down as follows:
- collisions (excluding level-crossing accidents)
- derailments
- accidents involving level-crossings
- accidents to persons caused by rolling stock in motion
- others
- total

2. Table H2 has the following breakdown:
- total number of accidents involving at least one
railway vehicle transporting dangerous goods, as
defined by the list of goods covered by Annex K
- number of such accidents in which dangerous goods
are released

3. Category of person is broken down as follows:
- passengers
- employees (including contractors)
- others
- total

23

4. The data in Tables H1-H4 shall be provided for all
railways covered by this Regulation.

5. During the first five years of application of this
Regulation, Member States may report these statistics
according to national definitions, if data conforming to
harmonised definitions (adopted according to the
procedure of Article 11 paragraph 2) are not available.

24

ANNEX I

LIST OF RAILWAY UNDERTAKINGS

List of variables and
units of
measurement

see below

Reference period

one year

Frequency

List of tables with
the breakdown for
each table

Deadline for
transmission of data

every year

see below

5 months after end of reference period

First reference
period

2002

Note

The information listed below (Table I1) shall be
supplied for each railway undertaking for which data are
provided according to Annexes A-H.

This information shall be used

– to check which undertakings are covered by the

tables in Annexes A-H

– to validate the coverage of Annexes A and C in

relation to total rail transport activity

Table I1

I1.1

I1.2

I1.3

I1.4

Identification of data source

Reporting country

Reference year

Name of undertaking

Country in which undertaking is based

Type of activities

I1.2.1

Freight transport: international

yes/no

25

I1.2.2

I1.2.3

I1.2.4

I1.2.5

I1.3.1

I1.3.2

I1.3.3

I1.3.4

Freight transport: national

Passenger transport: international

Passenger transport: national

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

Passenger transport: metro or light rail

yes/no

Level of transport activity

Total freight transport (tonnes)

Total freight transport (tonne-km)

Total passenger transport (passengers)

Total passenger transport (passenger-
km)

Data included in Annexes A-H

Annex A

Annex B

Annex C

Annex D

Annex E

Annex F

Annex G

Annex H

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

yes/no

26

ANNEX J

CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS

The following groups of goods shall be used until such time as a new classification is laid
down according to the procedure specified in Article 11, paragraph 2.

Groups
of
goods

NST/R
chapter

NST/R
groups

Description

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

0

01

Cereals

02, 03

Potatoes, other fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables

00, 06

Live animals, sugar beet

05

Wood and cork

04, 09

Textiles, textile articles and man-made fibres, other
raw animal and vegetable materials

Foodstuff and animal fodder

11, 12,
13, 14,
16, 17

18

Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits and fats

21, 22,
23

Solid mineral fuels

31

Crude petroleum

32, 33,
34

Petroleum products

41, 46

Iron ore, iron and steel waste and blast furnace dust

45

Non-ferrous ores and waste

Metal products

51, 52,
53, 54,
55, 56

64, 69

Cement, lime, manufactured building materials

61, 62,
63, 65

Crude and manufactured minerals

71, 72

Natural and chemical fertilizers

27

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

83

Coal chemicals, tar

81, 82,
89

Chemicals other than coal chemicals and tar

84

Paper pulp and waste paper

91, 92,
93

Transport equipment, machinery, apparatus, engines,
whether or not assembled, and parts thereof

94

95

Manufactures of metal

Glass, glassware, ceramic products

96, 97

Leather, textile, clothing, other manufactured articles

99

Miscellaneous articles

28

ANNEX K

CLASSIFICATION OF DANGEROUS GOODS

Explosives

Gases, compressed, liquified or dissolved under pressure

Flammable liquids

Flammable solids

Substances liable to spontaneous combustion

Substances which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases

Oxidising substances

Organic peroxides

Toxic substances

Substances liable to cause infections

Radioactive material

Corrosives

Miscellaneous dangerous substances

1

2

3

4.1

4.2

4.3

5.1

5.2

6.1

6.2

7

8

9

Note: these categories are those defined in the regulations concerning the international
carriage of dangerous goods by rail, usually known as the RID, as adopted under Council
Directive 96/49/EC of 23 July 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail and subsequent amendments20.

20

OJ L 235, 17.9.1996 p. 25. The latest amendments appear in Commission Directive 96/87/EC of
13 December 1996 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 96/49/EC on the approximation of
the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail, OJ L 335,
24.12.1996 p. 45.

29

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.

TITLE OF OPERATION

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on rail
transport statistics

2.

BUDGET HEADING(S) INVOLVED

Section III (Commission), Part B

Article B5-600 and B5-600A

3.

LEGAL BASIS

Article 285 of the Treaty.

4.

4.1

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION

General objective

The aim of the proposed Regulation is to establish common rules for the production
of Community statistics relating to rail transport. These statistics are needed in order
to monitor the effects of Community policies on rail transport (including intermodal
transport) and to support the continuing development of policy in this domain.

The Regulation will replace an existing Directive (Council Directive 80/1177/EEC of
4 December 1980 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by rail, as
part of regional statistics), which provides data only on freight transport and can no
longer be fully implemented since it specifies as data providers certain railway
administrations which no longer exist.

The Regulation defines a set of statistical tables on the transport of goods and
passengers by rail, as well as on rail accidents, together with the most important
definitions needed to ensure the comparability of the statistics. It sets out rules on the
coverage of rail undertakings by these statistics and on the role of national authorities
and other organizations in collecting and transmitting data. It also provides for the
future adoption of rules on data transmission formats, as well as for the future
adaptation of the Regulation, for example by changes to the definitions and to the list
of tables.

4.2

Period covered and arrangements for renewal

The first reference period for the collection of statistics under this Regulation will be
the year 2002. The Regulation will remain in force until repealed. Its provisions can
be adapted via a committee procedure.

30

5.

5.1

CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE

Compulsory/Non-compulsory expenditure

Non-compulsory expenditure.

5.2

Differentiated/Non-differentiated appropriations

Differentiated appropriations.

5.3

Type of revenue involved

The sale of statistics via publications and databases will partly cover the production
costs incurred by Eurostat.

6.

TYPE OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE

It is envisaged that the work of national authorities in collecting and transmitting the
data will be financed by the Member States with no Community financial
contribution.

Work by Eurostat to develop and document the Community methodology and to
process, analyze and disseminate data will be covered in full. Where necessary, this
work will be carried out by means of study contracts and contracts for the provision
of services. Meetings of experts may also be financed in full.

7.

7.1

FINANCIAL IMPACT

Method of calculating total cost of operation (relation between individual and
total costs)

Cost of work by national authorities: these costs are not estimated here since no
financial contribution is envisaged.

Cost of work by Eurostat: based on experience with the existing Council Directive
80/1177.

7.2

Itemised breakdown of cost

Commitment appropriations EUR million (at current prices)

Breakdown

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Total
2001-
2005

Subsequent
years (per
year)

Preparatory actions
(development of methodology
and data transmission
formats)

Processing and analysis of
data

0.08

0.04

0.04

-

-

0.16

-

-

0.04

0.04

0.08

0.08

0.24

0.08

Total

0.08

0.08

0.08

0.08

0.08

0.4

0.08

31

7.3

Operational expenditure for studies, experts etc. included in Part B of the
budget

Commitment appropriations EUR million (at current prices)

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

– Studies

– Meetings of experts

– Information and
publications

-

0.01

0.02

-

0.01

0.02

-

0.01

0.02

-

0.01

0.02

-

0.01

0.02

Total
2001-
2005

-

0.05

0.1

Subsequent
years (per
year)

-

0.01

0.02

Total

0.03

0.03

0.03

0.03

0.03

0.15

0.03

7.4

Schedule of commitment and payment appropriations

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

EUR million

Total
2001-
2005

Subsequent
years (per
year)

Commitment appropriations

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.55

0.11

Payment appropriations

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
and subs. yrs

Total

0.08
0.03

0.08
0.03

0.08
0.03

0.08
0.03

0.08

0.08
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.52

0.11

8.

FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES

New rules and procedures have been adopted or are in the course of adoption for the
principal budgetary processes: calls for tender, grants, commitments, contracts and
payments. The manuals of procedures are made available to all those intervening in
financial acts with a view to clarifying responsabilities, simplifying workflows, and
indicating key control points. The manuals are subject
to regular review and
updating.

32

9.

9.1

ELEMENTS OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS

Specific and quantified objectives; target population

–

Specific objectives: links with general objective

The specific objectives of this operation are:

(1)

to provide users with Community statistics on the transport of goods and
passengers by rail, and statistics on rail accidents, comprising:

–

–

–

–

–

–

detailed annual statistics on rail freight transport, including intermodal
transport;

detailed annual statistics on rail passenger transport;

quarterly summary statistics for freight and passenger transport;

statistics on flows of freight and passengers between regions;

statistics on freight and passenger traffic on the rail Trans-European
Network (TEN);

statistics on rail accidents.

(2)

–

to ensure that these statistics are collected and disseminated according to
harmonised concepts and definitions.

Target population: distinguish for any individual objectives; indicate the end-
beneficiaries of the Community's financial contribution and the intermediaries
involved.

The beneficiaries of this operation are users of rail transport statistics: Community
institutions; governments of Member States; regulatory agencies and infrastructure
authorities for railways in the Member States; railway undertakings; professional
associations; enterprises and private individuals using rail passenger and goods
transport services; enterprises supplying goods and services to the rail transport
industry; researchers and the media.

No Community financial contribution is envisaged.

9.2

Grounds for the operation

– Need for Community financial aid, with particular regard for the principle of

subsidiarity

No Community financial contribution is envisaged.

33

9.3

Monitoring and evaluation of the operation

Statistical data collected under this Regulation will be subject to a quality evaluation,
which will include a review of the methodology used to produce the statistics in
Member States (Article 8 of the Regulation).

There will also be a report to the Parliament and Council after 3 years which will
include the results of the quality evaluation and also a analysis of the benefits of
these statistics in relation to their cost and to the burden on enterprises (Article 9).

10.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (SECTION III, PART A OF THE BUDGET)

The needs for human and administrative resources will be covered within the
allocation granted to the managing DG (Eurostat).

Actual mobilization of the necessary administrative resources will depend on the
Commission’s annual decision on the allocation of resources, taking into account the
number of staff and additional amounts authorized by the budgetary authority.

10.1

Effect on the number of posts

Type of post

Staff to be assigned to managing
the operation

Source

Duration

Permanent
posts

Temporary
posts

Additional
resources

Existing
resources in
the DG or
department
concerned

Officials or
temporary staff

Other resources

0.5
0.5

A
B
C

0.2
0.3

0.3
0.2

indefinite

Total

1

0.5

0.5

34

10.2

Overall financial impact of human resources

Amounts

108.000

€

/year

Method of calculation

Average cost of A/B official = 108000
1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-7)

€
/year (based on Titles A-

EUR

Officials

Temporary staff

Other resources (indicate
budget heading)

Total

108.000

€

/year

10.3

Increase in other administrative expenditure as a result of the operation

No increase in other administrative expenditure is foreseen. Expenditure on working
groups and missions, etc will continue at the same level as required to support
Council Directive 80/1177, which will be replaced by the new Regulation. The
existing level of expenditure per year is approximately 9000
/year for working
group meetings and 3000

/year for missions.

€

€

35

IMPACT ASSESSMENT FORM

THE IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL ON BUSINESS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES( SMEs)

TITLE OF PROPOSAL

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on rail
transport statistics

DOCUMENT REFERENCE NUMBER

COM(2000)nnn

THE PROPOSAL

1.

Taking account of the principle of subsidiarity, why is Community legislation
necessary in this area and what are its main aims?

Community legislation on statistics is needed to set common statistical standards for
data, with a high degree of comparability between data collected in different Member
States. Such comparability is requested by all users, not only at Community level,
but also within Member States and in the enterprises concerned. In addition, setting
out explicit obligations for the provision of data by all enterprises gives enterprises
the assurance that they will not be placed at a competitive disadvantage by supplying
data, which can be an issue when data are supplied on a purely voluntary basis.

together with the most

The aim of the proposed Regulation is to establish common rules for the production
of Community statistics relating to rail transport. The Regulation defines a set of
statistical tables on the transport of goods and passengers by rail, as well as on rail
accidents,
important definitions needed to ensure the
comparability of the statistics. It sets out rules on the coverage of rail undertakings
by these statistics and on the role of national authorities and other organizations in
collecting and transmitting data. It also provides for the future adoption of rules on
data transmission formats, as well as for the future adaptation of the Regulation, for
example by changes to the definitions and to the list of tables.

THE IMPACT ON BUSINESS

2.

Who will be affected by the proposal?

– which sectors of business

Railway undertakings (rail operating companies).

– which sizes of business (what is the concentration of small and medium-sized

firms)

36

In the past, rail
transport services were provided mainly by a single railway
administration in each Member State, which also provided statistics both to the
national authorities and to Eurostat. With the progressive deregulation and
restructuring of railways over recent years, most Member States now have an
infrastructure authority and a number of operating companies which vary in size
from very large (the successors of the former railway administrations) to very small.
In most cases there is a dominant main operator (sometimes a separate operator for
freight and passenger transport) with 80% of more of the market (by volume).
However, the new smaller operators are already important and their market share is
expected to grow; one of the purposes of this Regulation is to monitor this growth.

The Regulation imposes broadly similar data requirements on all
railway
undertakings, but allows Member States the option of simplified reporting for those
undertakings which account (in aggregate) for less than 10% of the total market, by
volume. In addition, Member States may exclude from statistical reporting the
smallest operators (accounting in aggregate for less than 2% of the total market) as
well as certain special categories of operators such as tourist railways.

– are there particular geographical areas of the Community where these businesses

are found

No.

3.

What will business have to do to comply with the proposal?

Rail operators will have to extract data from their internal information systems and
generate summary reports for transmission to the national authority responsible for
compiling rail statistics and transmitting them to Eurostat. In practice, most operators
are already producing such reports for their own management and shareholders, and
are already supplying such data to professional organizations such as
the
International Union of Railways (UIC). Therefore the additional costs for enterprises
should be small.

4.

What economic effects is the proposal likely to have?

– on employment

None.

– on investment and the creation of new businesses

None.

– on the competitiveness of businesses

The statistics which will become available via this Regulation will assist rail
operators who wish to benchmark their operations against the industry average. This
Regulation may therefore help to promote the competitiveness of businesses in this
sector.

5.

Does the proposal contain measures to take account of the specific situation of small
and medium-sized firms (reduced or different requirements etc)?

37

Yes, there are provisions for simplified reporting for smaller operators, see point 2
above.

CONSULTATION

6.

List the organisations which have been consulted about the proposal and outline their
main views.

Community of European Railways (CER): indicated that technical consultation on
this proposal would be delegated to the International Union of Railways (UIC).

UIC: this is the main professional organisation dealing with technical rail issues,
including statistics. Eurostat works closely with UIC on all projects involving rail
statistics, and UIC participates regularly in the Eurostat Working Group on rail
transport statistics, which meets annually. On this proposal, UIC has been consulted
as follows:

–

–

–

UIC was an active participant in four meetings of the the Eurostat Working
Group on rail
transport statistics, at which the proposal was discussed
(November 1997, January 1999, January 2000, April 2000). At these meetings,
UIC supported the principles underlying the Regulation and made proposals for
improvement of the draft text, certain of which have been incorporated into the
final draft.

Eurostat presented the main features of the Regulation at a UIC seminar on
"Statistics and Confidentiality" in September 1999. It appeared that
the
participants in this seminar (representing rail operators) broadly shared the
view of Eurostat (supported by UIC) that limited disclosure of operational data
brings collective benefits to all operators, without damaging the commercial
interests of operators.

In September 1999, Eurostat also presented an early draft proposal to the
Steering Committee of UIC's Statistical Group. The members of the Committee
did not oppose the principles of the Regulation, but they made a number of
critical comments and proposals for improvement, many of which have been
reflected in later changes in the text. Following this meeting, UIC circulated
the draft proposal to its member companies with a request for comments;
additional comments mainly of a detailed nature were subsequently made to
Eurostat either via UIC or directly in the Eurostat Working Group on rail
transport statistics in January 2000 (see below).

Certain large rail operators and infrastructure managers (SNCB-B, DB Cargo-D,
SNCF-F, FS Italia-I, RHK-FIN, VR-FIN, SJ-S) have participated in the regular
meetings of the Eurostat Working Group on rail transport statistics. They have
supported the principles of the Regulation but at the meeting in January 2000 they
expressed concerns notably about the technical difficulties of providing the detailed
passenger data, about the excessive detail for some types of data (intermodal data,
regional data) and about the definitions proposed for some variables. The new
version presented to the Working Group in April 2000 includes a number of changes
to overcome these objections.

38