COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  concerning the development of a Single European Railway Area
Date: 2010-09-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, common transport policy, international transport, rail transport, transport safety

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 17.9.2010 
COM(2010) 474 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

concerning 

the development of a Single European Railway Area 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

concerning 

the development of a Single European Railway Area 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

1.1. 

Background 

Over  the  last  two  centuries  transport  by  rail  in  Europe  evolved  primarily  within 
national borders, with each State establishing its own rail system on the basis of local 
considerations and national industries together with railway companies adopting their 
own  technical  and  operational  standards..  Such  evolution  led  to  a  structural 
fragmentation of the European railway system which still today is a major obstacle to 
the  development  of  a  single  European  railway  area.  This  fragmentation  leads  to 
serious  problems  of  efficiency,  flexibility  and  reliability  in  particular  for  freight 
transport as well as to high operating costs preventing rail from becoming a credible 
competitor against other modes of transport and discouraging private investments by 
new entrants in the rail market. 

Following  a  long  period  of  decline,  since  2000  the  European  railway  industry  has 
managed to increase  passengers  and  freight volumes transported and to stabilise its 
modal  share.  The  rapid  fall  in  rail  employment  had  also  slowed  down  before  the 
onset of the crisis, since job losses in the incumbents have been partly offset by job 
creation  in  newly  established  railway  and  services  companies.  Safety  has  also 
improved  significantly.  In  the  EU-15  countries,  the  average  number  of  railway 
passengers killed in accidents dropped from 104 between 2000 and 2002 to 47 over 
the period 2005 to 2007; similar trends were observed in most EU-12 countries. 

Despite these observed trends it has not been possible to improve the overall modal 
share of rail freight and passenger transport in line with the objectives set in the 2001 
Transport White Paper. Further, the market share of incumbent rail undertakings and 
new entrants shows that the expected outcome from market opening has been slow to 
materialise. While the market share of non-incumbent rail freight operators exceeded 
40 % in three Member States (Romania, United Kingdom and Estonia) at the end of 
2008, monopolistic positions still exist in many Member States both for freight and 
for  passenger  transport  services.  Generally  speaking,  in  countries  where  market 
opening has progressed faster and new entrants have acquired higher market shares, 
the freight market has also become more stable. 

However,  quality  problems  (particularly  as  regards  reliability)  mean  the  railway 
operating  industry  faces  difficulties  to  maintain  its  present  position  within  the  EU 
transport  system,  let  alone  improve  it,  despite  its  growth  potential  in  the  face  of 
increasing environmental constraints, the success of rail freight in other parts of the 
world, and the apparent demand of citizens and shippers to make greater use of rail 
transport. 

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1.2. 

Evolution of rail traffic in the EU 

After  a  steep  fall  from  526.3  to  403.7  billion  tkm  between  1990  and  2000  (mainly 
due  to  a  very  negative  trend  in  the  EU-12),  rail  freight  transport  in  the  EU-27 
increased to 453.1 billion tkm in 2007 (+12.2 %). Similarly, after a sharp decrease in 
the  1990s  (from  420.1  billion  pkm  in  1990  to  370.7  billion  pkm  in  2000,  again 
mainly  due  to  EU-12),  rail  passenger  transport  activities  in  the  EU-27  rose  to 
395.3 billion  pkm  in  2007  (+6 %)  despite  a  further  decline  in  Central  and  Eastern 
Europe (-18.4 % in EU-12). 

Performance of rail freight and passenger transport 

thousand mio 

1990 

2000 

2007 

freight  
(tkm) 
256.5 
269.8 
526.3 

pass.  
(pkm) 
268.9 
151.2 
420.1 

freight  
(tkm) 
257.1 
146.6 
403.7 

pass.  
(pkm) 
309.4 
61.4 
370.7 

freight  
(tkm) 
297.1 
156 
453.1 

pass.  
(pkm) 
345.2 
50.1 
395.3 

EU-15 
EU-12 
EU-27 

Due to the positive trend between 2000 and 2007, the modal share of rail in intra-EU 
transport  has  remained  more  or  less  constant  since  2000.  In  freight  transport,  rail 
continues  to  account  for  close  to  11 %  of  all  intra-EU  transport  activity.  In  inland 
freight transport, i.e. excluding air and sea, its share is slightly above 17 %. On the 
passenger  side,  the  share  of  rail  in  intra-EU  transport  has  remained  at  around  6 %. 
Looking only at land-based modes, about 7 % of passenger transport is by rail. 

The data for  2008 show  a  decline  of  around  2 % in freight transport activity across 
modes, mainly due to the outbreak of the economic crisis in the second half of that 
year. In passenger transport, rail managed to gain some ground, mainly as a result of 
above-average growth in high-speed traffic. While the modal split in freight transport 
was  hardly  affected  by  developments  in  2008,  rail  freight  appears  to  have 
experienced  a  somewhat  bigger  drop  in  activity  than  other  modes  during  the 
deepening  economic  crisis  in  2009.  The  modal  share  of  rail  freight  transport  is 
therefore  likely  to  have  shrunk  over  the  short  term.  Passenger  service  activity  also 
slowed in 2009, in particular business travel, but rail appears not to have fared much 
worse than other modes. The current economic climate has exacerbated some of the 
structural  weaknesses  of  the  rail  market  and  accelerated  a  consolidation  of  the 
railway  sector  with  the  acquisition  by  incumbents  of  several  new  freight  service 
operators in 2008 and 20091. 

1.3. 

Objectives of EU rail policy 

The rail sector is an environmentally friendly mode of transport which can contribute 
to establishing new forms of mobility that are energy-efficient and limit the risks of 
aggravating  pollution,  congestion  and  (particularly  if  non-fossil  fuel  generated 
electricity  is  used)  climate  change.  It  can  deliver  high-quality,  reliable,  safe  and 
secure  services  and  thereby  facilitate  the  sustainable  development  of  the  European 
economy.  

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COM(2009) 676, 18.12.2009, p. 15. 

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As the volcanic ash crisis has shown, the continued development of diverse transport 
modes  is  vital  to  ensure  the  resilience  of  Europe's  transport  system,  on  which  our 
economy  depends.  Such  diversity  is  also  important  to  provide  broad  options  for 
tackling 
the  challenges  of  climate  change  and  energy  security.  European 
manufacturers  are  world  leaders  in  rail  technology  –  especially  in  the  high  speed 
sector. A strong European railway is vital to showcase this and drive the adoption of 
European technology in other markets. 

Ensuring that the potential growth of the railway sector is fully realised is therefore 
an  objective  of  utmost  importance  not  only  of  the  EU  transport  policy,  but  also  of 
economic policy at large. 

With  these  objectives  in  mind,  the  European  Union  needs  to  establish  a  Single 
European  Railway  Area  based  on  an  integrated  infrastructure  network  and 
interoperable equipment enabling seamless transport services throughout Europe and 
with  neighbouring  countries.  All  European  railway  operators  would  then  be  in  a 
position to offer efficient services meeting passenger and business expectations and 
better  able  to  compete  with  alternative  transport  modes,  notably  in  terms  of  price, 
flexibility, journey time and punctuality. 

To  boost  the  competitiveness  of  the  rail  sector  and  its  environmental  friendliness 
building on what has already been achieved, further measures should be taken as part 
of  a  coherent  strategy  promoting  the  development  of  an  effective  EU  rail 
infrastructure,  establishing  an  attractive  and  truly  open  rail  market,  removing 
administrative  and  technical  barriers,  and  ensuring  a  level  playing  field  with  other 
transport modes. The present communication gives a broad outline of this strategy. 

2. 

PROMOTING 
INFRASTRUCTURE 

THE 

DEVELOPMENT  OF 

EFFECTIVE 

RAIL 

The level of investment in rail infrastructure development and maintenance remains 
insufficient  in  many  Member  States.  In  several  cases,  the  quality  of  the  existing 
infrastructure  continues  to  decline.  Cross-border  connections,  including  with  rail 
networks in neighbouring countries, remain insufficient. The situation is particularly 
severe  in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe.  Poor  maintenance,  slow  modernisation  and 
increasing  numbers  of  bottlenecks  on  the  network  have  a  direct  effect  on  the 
competitiveness  of  the  whole  sector.  In  this  context,  European  Commission  policy 
aims at mobilising international, EU, national and private funds for the development 
of new rail transport projects, ensuring that the existing infrastructure is adequately 
maintained  and  optimised  through  an  appropriate  financial  environment  that 
stimulates Member State and candidate countries investments in the rail sector, and 
making it easier to adapt infrastructure to growing specialised demands, in particular 
to develop high-speed and freight-oriented networks. 

2.1.  Mobilising funds for the development of rail infrastructure 

Overall,  rail  receives  only  a  small  part  of  investment  in  infrastructure  by  Member 
States,  road  infrastructure  continuing  to  take  the  lion’s  share.  This  imbalance  is 
particularly  marked  in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe.  The  European  Union  has 
therefore  decided  to  devote  a  substantial  part  of  its  transport  budget  to  the 
development  of  rail  infrastructure.  Direct interventions  of  this  kind  can  address  the 

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current  lack  of  interoperability  of  national  rail  networks  and  the  presence  of 
bottlenecks  at  cross-border  sections.  They  will  have  a  clear  leverage  effect  on 
Member States’ investments. Under the current financial framework 2007-2013, the 
bulk  of  funding  for  Trans-European  Networks  for  Transport  (TEN-T)  projects  is 
allocated to the development of railways (more than 63 % of the TEN-T investments: 
 390 million. The proportion of funding allocated to rail is even 
 246 million out of €
higher  for  TEN-T  priority  projects  (more  than  83 %  of  the  total  budget,  with  €
 129 
million  for  2007-2013).  But  other  EU  instruments  —  the  Cohesion  Fund,  the 
European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF)  and  European  Investment  Bank 
loans and guarantees — are also making major contributions to investment in the rail 
sector,  particularly  in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe.  About  €
 82  billion  from  the  EU 
Structural  and  Cohesion  Funds  (23.8 %  of  the  total  allocation)  will  be  spent  on 
billion  being  allocated  for  rail 
transport  between  2007  and  2013, 
infrastructure.  In  enlargement  and  neighbouring  countries,  funding  can  come  from 
the  Instrument  of  Pre-Accession  (IPA)  and  the  European  Neighbouring  Partnership 
Instrument (ENPI) respectively. 

€ 23.6 

A further increase in direct EU funding for the development of rail infrastructure will 
necessarily depend on the next multi-annual financial framework and the possibility 
to develop new funding instruments and mobilise additional resources in this context. 
The Commission will outline its approach in the forthcoming White Paper on future 
EU Transport Policy.  

2.2. 

Ensuring  quality  of  rail  infrastructure  through  an  appropriate  financial 
environment  

In its 2008 Communication on multiannual contracts for rail infrastructure quality2, 
the  Commission  set  out  the  measures  that  Member  States  and  infrastructure 
managers  should  take  to  ensure  the  sustainable  financing  of  existing  rail 
infrastructure. The level of public intervention should in particular be consistent with 
medium  to  long-term  investment  strategies  and  combine  the  principle  of  financial 
equilibrium  with  charging  at  the  direct  cost  of  operating  an  additional  train  as  the 
rule  (full  cost  recovery  being  allowed  only  as  the  exception  and  on  certain 
conditions). 

Sustainable  financing  of  rail  infrastructure  is  the  primary  objective  of  various 
changes  proposed  by  the  Commission  in  the  revision  of  the  existing  EU  market 
access  legislation.  The  Commission  is  seeking  to  establish  a  financial  environment 
entailing clear obligations for the competent public authorities to commit to medium 
and  long-term  investment  strategies  providing  better  predictability  of  business 
opportunities for the rail sector, and creating strong incentives for rail undertakings 
to  invest  in  new  safe,  interoperable  and  environment-friendly  technologies  through 
more effective charging systems. All this should stimulate further private and public 
investment in the rail sector at national level. 

2 

COM(2008) 54, 6.2.2008. 

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€
                                                 
2.3. 

Developing more specialised networks 

The  TEN-T  policy  is  central  to  the  development  of  high-speed  lines  and  freight 
infrastructures on a pan-European scale. Having increased considerably in the 1990s, 
the  length  of  the  high-speed  network  doubled  between  2001  and  2007  in  Europe, 
totalling 5 764 km in 2008, with more than 2 500 km of additional high-speed lines 
under construction in Belgium, France Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in 
2009. By 2007, high-speed rail transport constituted 23 % of the total EU passenger 
rail  market  measured  in  passengers/kilometres  and  has  succeeded  in  recapturing 
markets from cars and aviation.  

Similarly,  the  rail  freight  market  continues  to  require  infrastructure  and  operating 
practices offering a better and more reliable service to freight operators. This is why 
the  Commission  issued  in  September  2008  a  Communication  detailing  guidelines 
and practical proposals to monitor the quality of rail freight services3; the European 
Parliament and Council are about to adopt a Regulation establishing a European rail 
network for competitive freight, which the Commission had proposed in December 
2008. The Commission will propose further measures if the development of the rail 
freight market continues to be unsatisfactory. 

Through  the  revision  of  the  existing  EU  rail  market  access  legislation,  the 
Commission  intends  to  establish  a  financial  environment  conducive  to  public  and 
private investments in the rail sector. 

The development of rail infrastructure also requires a broader view of new funding 
instruments (both public and private) and the mobilisation of appropriate resources 
under the next multi-annual financial framework. 

Besides  the  creation  of  a  European  rail  network  for  competitive  freight,  the 
Commission will consider the need for additional measures to improve the quality of 
rail freight services, including the development of tools to monitor the performance 
of rail operators and the publication of quality indicators. 

In 2011, the Commission will present the results of its work currently underway to 
develop  further  the  links  between  TEN-Ts  and  European  Neighbourhood  countries, 
and the integration of candidate country networks with the TEN-T network. 

3. 

ESTABLISHING  AN  ATTRACTIVE  AND  GENUINELY  OPEN  RAIL 
MARKET 

3.1. 

Enforcing and improving existing rules 

The Commission has long considered that the improvement of the functioning of the 
internal  market  should  stimulate  the  rail  industry  to  become  more  efficient  and 
responsive  to  customers’  needs.  Thus  the  development  of  EU  rail  market  access 
legislation  has  progressively  encouraged  market  opening  based  on  a  genuine 
separation between infrastructure management and transport operations. Rail freight 

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COM(2008) 536, 8.9.2008. 

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transport  and  international  passenger  transport  by  rail  have  been  fully  open  to 
competition from January 2007 and January 2010 respectively. 

However,  competition  between  railway  undertakings  is  still  limited  by  various 
factors stemming from the protectionist behaviours of historical incumbent operators 
and  the  collusive  management  of  rail  infrastructure,  ,which,  being  a  natural 
monopoly,  should  be  accessible  to  all  applicants  in  a  fair  and  non-discriminatory 
manner. Insufficient transparency of market conditions and ineffective functioning of 
the institutional framework, in most Member States, continue to make the provision 
of  competitive  rail  services  difficult.  Essential  information  for  new  entrants  — 
concerning application or appeal procedures, for instance — is not yet systematically 
and  easily  accessible.  Operators  entering  a  new  market  continue 
to  face 
discrimination  in  obtaining  access  to  the  infrastructure  and  rail-related  services, 
which are often owned and operated by the incumbent rail undertaking.  

Member  States’  regulatory  bodies  encounter  difficulties  in  carrying  out  their 
supervision  duties  over  infrastructure  managers,  in  particular  to  ensure  no 
discrimination  against  new  entrants  and  to  check  whether  charging  principles  and 
accounting separation are properly applied. These difficulties are often due to a lack 
of staff and other resources, and may be compounded in cases where the regulatory 
body  does  not  have  sufficient  independence  from  the  infrastructure  managers, 
incumbent  rail  undertaking  or  the  ministry  which  exerts  ownership  rights  over  the 
incumbent operator. The regulation on a rail network for competitive freight requires 
closer  cooperation  between  infrastructure  managers  along  the  national  sections  of 
European  corridors;  this  in  turn  requires  parallel  closer  cooperation  between  the 
corresponding national regulators. The experience to be gathered here may be useful 
should  the  Commission  later  consider  taking  a  more  integrated  approach  to  market 
supervision  in  the  single  European  railway  area.  Existing  legislation  already  goes 
some way to dealing with these issues. But the Commission is aware that problems 
will persist if the EU regulatory framework is not properly implemented. This is why 
the  Commission  has  already  taken  the  initiative  in  launching  infringement 
procedures against Member States who fail to apply EU law properly. It also appears 
that existing rules need to be clarified and modernised. In the draft Directive adopted 
together with this Communication, the Commission therefore proposes to amend the 
existing  market  access  rules  to  remove  the  obstacles  to  fair  competition  that  have 
been identified. 

The functioning of public passenger transport services by rail is also regulated by EU 
law. To ensure fair competition among railway undertakings, there is a clear need to 
enforce these provisions, in particular those related to the appropriate level of public 
service compensation. 

3.2. 

Completing the process of market opening 

However,  market  opening  will  remain  incomplete  as  long  as  European  railway 
undertakings do not have the right to provide domestic passenger transport services 
throughout  the  European  Union.  In  this  context,  the  Commission  has  already 
launched a study on the regulatory options available for domestic passenger market 
opening.  Since  a  very  large  part  of  domestic  passenger  services  is  provided  under 
public  service  contracts,  the  Commission  will  also  examine  the  conditions  for 
awarding public service contracts for rail transport in Member States. An evaluation 

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of  the  current  practices  under  Regulation  (EC)  No  1370/2007,  which  entered  into 
force in December 2009, is already underway. These initial activities, which include 
consultation of interested parties, in particular the social partners, should enable the 
Commission to present an overall evaluation of the costs and benefits of competition 
for domestic passenger transport in 2011 and then adopt, a new initiative to facilitate 
further market opening by 2012 at the latest, as required by the legislation in force. In 
proposing any such initiative the Commission will include the measures necessary to 
ensure  that  market  opening  genuinely  improves  services,  and  does  not  have 
unexpected negative effects.  

Through  the  revision  of  the  existing  EU  rail  market  access  legislation,  the 
Commission  intends  to  remove  the  obstacles  to  fair  competition  that  have  been 
identified since 2001. 

The Commission will also  propose to extend market opening to domestic passenger 
traffic,  whether  under  public  service  or  private  contracts,  subject  to  appropriate 
quality safeguards.  

The  question  of  reinforcing  the  requirements  on  institutional  separation  between 
infrastructure  managers  and  railway  undertakings  and  establishing  appropriate 
institutional  arrangements  to  ensure  more  integrated  supervision  of  the  EU  rail 
market will also be examined in this context. 

4. 

REMOVING ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL BARRIERS 

4.1. 

Towards a common approach to safety 

Safety requirements  and the lack  of interoperability still impose significant barriers 
to entry in the EU rail market. These barriers stem mainly from the cost and duration 
of  the  procedures  involved  at  national  level,  their  disparity  across  Europe  and  the 
lack of transparency and predictability.  

The  Commission  has  already  laid  the  groundwork  for  progress  in  this  field  by 
harmonising  safety  certificates  for  railway  undertakings  and  introducing  common 
safety targets and methods. However, to be successful these measures require above 
all the establishment of strong, efficient and independent national safety authorities 
(NSAs)  interacting  with  one  another  to  avoid  unnecessary  multiple  or  duplicated 
checks.  The  Commission  will  therefore  continue  to  monitor  Member  States’ 
compliance with the EU legislation governing the creation of such bodies.  

This  regulatory  framework  gives  a  leading  role  to  the  European  Railway  Agency 
(ERA)  in  gradually  harmonising  national  safety  processes  and  procedures  and 
progressively replacing them with common methods. The Commission will therefore 
ensure that ERA is in a position to carry out these tasks. As announced in September 
2009, it will also examine how ERA’s  role  can gradually evolve to complement or 
even  take  on  at  least  in  part  the  activities  of  NSAs  in  the  certification  and 
authorisation  processes.  After  the  necessary  feasibility  study,  including  stakeholder 
consultation,  the  Commission  could  put  forward  a  legislative  proposal  in  the  near 
future. 

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4.2. 

Removing interoperability barriers 

The  adoption  of  harmonised  and  clear  technical  specifications  for  interoperability 
(TSI)  is  necessary  to  remove  the  existing  entry  barriers.  Much  has  already  been 
achieved with the adoption by the Commission of a first set of specifications for both 
high-speed and conventional rail. Other important TSI are due to be adopted in the 
near  future.  At  this  stage  all  TSI  remain  applicable  only  to  the  Trans-European 
Network;  however, a  mandate to prepare  the extension of their scope has just been 
given  to  ERA,  so  that  the  whole  railway  system  should  be  covered  by  harmonised 
specifications by 2013. 

As  regards  telematics  applications  for  passengers  and  freight,  the  rail  industry  is 
asked to set up integrated platforms for communicating between different economic 
parties  and  customers.  The  Commission  intends  to  promote  the  timely  and  full 
deployment of these platforms, which variously aim to provide information and issue 
tickets  to  rail  passengers  (allowing  improved  through-ticketing  arrangements  for 
infrastructure 
example),  enabling  efficient  communication  between  different 
managers, railway undertakings and others operating trains, wagons and intermodal 
units. 

The  adoption  by  the  Commission  of  the  deployment  plan  for  the  European  Rail 
Traffic  Management  System  (ERTMS)  in  July  2009  and  the  current  review  of  the 
TEN-T policy have been conceived to accelerate the installation and effective use of 
the latest interoperable traffic management equipment.  

But because of the long lifespan of rail equipment and the need to keep investment 
costs  at  a  level  that  the  sector  can  bear,  moving  towards  interoperability  is  a  slow 
process.  However,  in  the  coming  years  the  Commission  must  take  steps  to  shorten 
the  period  of  migration  from  legacy  systems  to  the  European  target  system  on  the 
basis  of  common  deployment  plans  that  indicate  the  scheduled  phasing-out  of  old 
systems and their replacement by interoperable systems, as has already been done for 
ERTMS.  

In  the  meantime,  to  address  the  present  lack  of  interoperability,  ERA  has  been 
mandated to develop tools that will make it easier existing rail vehicles into service 
in all Member States under the principle of cross-acceptance of national rules. 

The  Commission  is  progressively  adopting  harmonised  safety  and  interoperability 
measures and provides incentives for the installation of interoperable equipment in 
order to remove administrative and technical barriers to entry in the EU rail market. 

With  regard  to  the  process  of  safety  certification  of  railway  undertakings  and 
authorisation for placing in service of rail vehicles into service, there appears to be a 
lack of effective and harmonised decision-making mechanisms involving all parties, 
in  particular  national  safety  authorities.  The  Commission  is  therefore  considering 
how  to  confer  on  the  European  Railway  Agency  the  power  to  audit  the  established 
mechanisms and to extend its role in the certification and authorisation processes in 
the near future. 

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5. 

ENSURING  A  LEVEL  PLAYING  FIELD  WITH  OTHER  TRANSPORT 
MODES 

Making transport sustainable is a long-term strategic priority aiming to meet future 
mobility  needs  and  challenges.  In  its  Communication  on  the  Future  of  Transport4, 
adopted  by  the  Commission  on  17th  June  2009,  and  as  part  of  the  Greening 
Transport  package,  the  Commission  has  proposed  measures  to  internalise  the 
external  costs  of  transport  in  a  coordinated  and  balanced  manner  across  modes  so 
that  the  charges  reflect  the  level  of  the  external  cost  imposed  on  society  at  large. 
Today,  it  is  vital  for  the  transport  sector  to  contribute  to  the  Commission’s  key 
priorities of sustainable development and maintaining competitiveness in Europe. 

Internalising  external  costs  is  the  right  way  to  ensure  that  pricing  systems  reflect 
more accurately the true costs borne by transport modes and to give the right price 
signal to transport users, so that they have an incentive to change their behaviour in 
order to reduce those costs. 

Today there is no genuine level playing field and fair inter-modal competition. The 
charging  principles  currently  applicable  to  rail,  road  and  air  transport  differ  vastly. 
The  basis  (infrastructure  costs)  and  the  instruments  for  internalising  or  modulating 
external costs (in particular air pollution, noise, climate change and congestion) are 
still  very  diverse.  For  the  rail  sector  Member  States  are  allowed  to  modulate 
infrastructure access charges to take account of the cost of the environmental effects 
caused  by  the  operation  of  the  train.  However  this  modulation  must  not  result  in 
additional revenues for the infrastructure manager unless such charging is applied at 
comparable level for competing modes of transport. 

The Commission proposal to revise the ‘first railway package’ and the measures set 
out in the Greening Transport package in the field of road freight transport (review of 
‘Eurovignette’  Directive  1999/62/EC5)  already  contain  new  provisions  aimed  at 
ensuring  convergence  between  the  charging  principles  applying  to  rail  and  road 
transport  and  paving  the  way  for  a  genuine  level  playing  field  among  transport 
modes.  While  the  revised  Eurovignette  Directive  will  allow  the  internalisation  of 
external  environmental  and  congestion  costs,  the  Commission  proposes  in  the 
revision  of  the  first  railway  package  to  introduce  a  scheme  of  harmonised  noise-
differentiated track access charges under specific conditions and facilitate adaptation 
of the charging schemes to take into account other environmental effects throughout 
the European Union. 

The  Commission  is  convinced  that  the  above  proposed  rules,  if  properly 
implemented,  will  help  to  make  EU  transport  more  sustainable  and  more  efficient. 
Increasing  the  railways’  share  in  total  transport  volumes  is  an  important  and 
rail’s  environmental 
indispensable  part  of 
competitiveness,  additional  measures  could  be  required,  in  particular  to  stimulate 
further energy efficiency. 

this  vision.  But 

to  maximise 

The  Commission  intends  to  make  sure  that  the  principles  of  cost  recovery  across 
transport  modes  converge  to  create  a  multi-modal  level  playing  field.  For  rail,  the 

4 
5 

COM(2009) 279, 17.6.2009. 
COM(2008) 436, 8.7.2008. 

EN 

10 

   EN 

                                                 
revision  of  the  existing  EU  rail  market  access  legislation  should  ensure  that  track 
access charges take into account the environmental effects of train operations.  

The  Commission  is  also  considering  the  possibility  of  adopting  new  measures  to 
stimulate further the energy efficiency of the rail sector. 

The  Commission  intends  in  the  near  future  to  consult  all  interested  parties  on  the 
initiatives  outlined  in  this  Communication.  Stakeholders  will  thus  have  a  say  in 
shaping the priority actions for the next five years. 

EN 

11 

   EN