REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Seventh monitoring report on the development of the rail market under Article 15(4) of Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council
Date: 2021-01-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, combined transport, common transport policy, rail transport, reduction of gas emissions, services of general interest, sustainable mobility, trans-European network, transport infrastructure

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 13.1.2021  COM(2021) 5 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Seventh monitoring report on the development of the rail market under Article 15(4) of Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council {SWD(2021) 1 final}  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Seventh monitoring report on the development of the rail market under Article 15(4) of 
Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 

1.  MAIN FINDINGS 

Reliable monitoring of the rail market is fundamental to understanding market developments 
and taking informed policy decisions. The Commission funds sectoral initiatives such as the 
PRIME KPIs benchmarking activities and works with Member States to improve monitoring. 

This report covers data up to 2018 and therefore does not provide any evidence on the impact 
of  the  COVID-19  pandemic  on  the  sector.  While  rail,  and  especially  freight,  services 
continued  to  run  throughout  2020,  the  number  of  international  passengers  declined 
significantly during the various lockdowns and overall demand decreased due to uncertainty 
and the economic downturn.  

The main findings and trends for 2015-2018 in EU27 (with the exception of the length of the 
high-speed network, for which the comparison is with 2019) are that:  

-  rail traffic increased annually by 2.5% for passengers and by 4.1% for freight;  

-  rail’s  ‘modal  share’  of  land  transport  modes  increased  from  7.6%  to  7.8%  for 

passengers and decreased from 18.8% to 18.7% for freight;  

- 

- 

- 

in  2018,  rail  accounted  for  only  0.4%  of  both  greenhouse  gas  (GHG)  and  CO2 
transport emissions and for 2% of transport energy consumption;  

the length of the high-speed network increased by 17% between 2015 and 2019;  

the total length of tracks that were declared to be congested more than doubled;    

-  railway undertakings had 1 082 active licences overall in 2018;   

- 

the average market share of competitors to national incumbents in 2018 was:  

  42% of rail freight markets (an increase of 8 percentage points);  

  10% of commercial passenger markets (an increase of 2 percentage points);  

  16.2% of public service obligation (PSO) passenger markets (a decrease of 0.5 

percentage points);  

-  rail  remains  one  of  the  safest  modes  of  transport,  travelling  by  car  being  almost  50 

times riskier than travelling by train; and,  

-  at the end of 2018, just over 916 000 people were employed in the rail sector, about 
527 000  of  them  by  railway  undertakings  (both  main  and  alternative  operators)  and 
389 000 by infrastructure managers.  

1 

 
2.  METHODOLOGY 

This is the seventh edition of the rail market monitoring report that the Commission submits 
every  2  years  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  under  Article 15(4)  of  Directive 
2012/34/EU1. Its purpose is to provide an overview of the main developments in rail markets 
in the context of EU rail market policy2. The report covers a broad range of topics, including: 
the evolution of the single market for rail services; the infrastructure and services available to 
railway undertakings; the framework conditions for the rail market (including charges3); the 
state of the network; utilisation of access rights; and barriers to more effective rail services. 
The accompanying staff working document contains a detailed analysis of these topics. 

This  is  the  second  report  to  draw  on  the  reporting  questionnaire  set  out  in  Commission 
Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2015/1100  on  rail  market  monitoring4  (‘the  RMMS 
Regulation’), and the first one to be produced after the end of the transitional period for its 
implementation, in 2018.  

In  addition  to  RMMS  data  submitted  by  the  Member  States,  the  United  Kingdom  and 
Norway, this report also draws on contributions from the statistical pocketbook EU transport 
in  figures5,  reports  from  the  European  Union  Agency  for  Railways6,  Eurostat7,  statistics 
collected  by  various  sectoral  organisations,  presentations  and  studies.  Where  the  RMMS 
Regulation  is  the  only  source,  the  report  assesses  trends  for  2015-2018  to  ensure  data 
comparability. When using other sources, the report may present trends over a longer period.  

Aggregated data and averages refer to EU27 (i.e. to the current EU Member States8). Since 
the  United  Kingdom  was  a  Member  State  until  31 January 2020,  the  report  also  provides 
totals and averages for EU28, either in the text or in the Excel file published on DG MOVE’s 
website together with the report9.  

3.  RAIL AND SUSTAINABILITY 

Rail is the only transport mode to have reduced GHG and CO2 emissions almost continously 
since 1990, while carrying about 13% of freight and 7% of passengers on all modes (EU27, 
2018).  As  such,  rail  is  comparatively  less  polluting  and  more  energy-efficient  than  other 
motorised means of transport. In 2018, rail accounted only for 0.4% of both transport GHG 
and  CO2  emissions  and  for  2%  of  transport  energy  consumption  in  EU2710.  To  meet  the 
objectives of the European Green Deal, rail will have to take up a bigger share of passenger 
and freight transport.  

1   Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a 

2  

single European railway area, OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 32. 
In addition to the rail market report, the European Union Agency for Railways publishes annual reports on 
safety and interoperability of railways. 

3     Comprehensive monitoring of rail prices for customers is not possible due to the wide variety of services 

4  

offered. 
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1100 of 7 July 2015 on the  reporting obligations of the 
Member States in the framework of rail market monitoring, OJ L 181, 9.7.2015, p. 1. 
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/statistics/pocketbook-2020_en  
https://www.era.europa.eu/library/corporate-publications_en  
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/transport/data/database  

5  
6  
7  
8   Norway participates in the RMMS, but data for Norway are not included in EU totals and averages. 
9  
10   EU28: 0.5%, 0.5% and 2% respectively.  

https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/rail/market/market_monitoring_en  

2 

 
                                                 
4.  EU RAIL NETWORK 

The total length of the EU27 rail network in 2018 was around 201 000 line kilometres (0.4% 
less than in 2015). Around 56% of the network was electrified, an increase of 855 kilometres 
since 2015 (+1.2%).  

The EU’s high-speed rail network stretched to over 9 100 kilometres by the end of 2019, an 
increase of 17% since 201511.  

Figure 1: Length of national networks per country (thousand line-km, 2018) and relative change (2015-2018) 

Source: Statistical pocketbook, 2020. Infill data from various other sources. 

5.  EVOLUTION OF RAIL SERVICES 

The  total  number  of  EU  train  kilometres  (both  passenger  and  freight  train  movements)  has 
remained substantially stable over the past 10 years. Passenger and freight services recovered 
at  different  paces  after  the  financial  crisis  of  2008  (with  fluctuations  for  freight).  Between 
2015 and 2018, rail traffic12 in EU27 increased annually by 2.5% for passengers and by 4.1% 
for freight13.  

11   EU28: 217 000 line kilometres, of  which 54%  were electrified, and over 9 200 kilometres of  high-speed 

lines.  

12   Data on volumes reported in the yearly RMMS questionnaire may differ from those reported by Eurostat, 
due  to  the  different  scope,  potential  double  counting  of  transit  volumes  and  adjustments  (estimates  and 
integration of data from other sources). 

13   EU28: 2.4% for passengers and 3.8% for freight.  

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 2: Passenger and freight volumes (pax-km, tonne-km and train-km, 2005-2018) 

Source: RMMS, 2020. Infill data from various other sources and estimates. The 2015 and 2016 data for RO are estimates; 
the data also include adjustments to the 2018 pax-km value for BE, the 2015 and 2016 tonne-km values for ES, NL and LU, 
and the 2015 and 2016 train-km values for IE. 

By 2018, EU27 rail passenger traffic volumes accounted for 404 billion passenger kilometres 
out  of  around  5  trillion  passenger  kilometres  for  land  transport  overall14.  Rail  passenger 
traffic is still mostly domestic, with only 7% of it crossing borders in 2018.  

Figure 3: Evolution of rail passenger traffic volumes (domestic, international and proportion of international in 
total traffic) (billion pax-km, 2007-2018) 

Source:  RMMS,  2020.  Infill  data  from  various  other  sources  and  estimates.  The  2015  data  for  BE,  EE,  EL,  LU  and  RO  are 
estimates. 

14   EU28:  473  billion  passenger  kilometres,  out  of  around  6  trillion  passenger  kilometres  on  land  transport 

overall.   

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Each citizen of the EU27 travelled 909 passenger kilometres on average in 2018 (+2.4% per 
year since 201515).  

Between 2015 and 2018, the modal share of passenger cars in EU27 land passenger transport 
increased  from  81%  to  81.4%,  whereas  rail  increased  from  7.6%  to  7.8%,  with  significant 
differences between countries.  

Figure 4: Passenger land transport modal split by country (% in 2018) and change in percentage points for rail 
(2015-2018)  

Source: Statistical pocketbook, 2020; excluding CY and MT. 

In 2018, EU27 rail freight traffic volumes accounted for 435 billion tonne kilometres out of 
2.3 trillion tonne kilometres of land transport overall16. More than half of total rail freight is 
across  borders,  making  the  competitiveness  of  rail  freight  very  sensitive  to  interoperability 
and operational difficulties between national rail networks.  

15   EU28: 926 passenger kilometres and +2.2% respectively.  
16   Excluding  pipelines.  For  EU28:  452 billion  tonne  kilometres  out  of  2.4  trillion  tonne  kilometres  of  land 

transport overall.  

5 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Figure  5:  Evolution  of  rail  freight  traffic  volumes  (domestic,  international  and  proportion  of  international  in 
total traffic) (billion tonne-km, 2007-2018)  

Source:  RMMS,  2020.  Infill  data  from  various  other  sources  and  estimates.  For  2016,  there  is  a  revision  of  some  RMMS 
inputs and estimates compared with the sixth RMMS report. 

Between  2015  and  2018,  the  modal  share  of  road  in  EU27  land  freight  transport  increased 
from  74.2%  to  75.4%,  whereas  rail  decreased  from  18.8%  to  18.7%,  with  significant 
differences between countries.  

Figure 6: Modal split of freight land transport by country (% in 2018) and change in percentage points for rail 
(2015-2018) 

Source: Statistical pocketbook, 2020. 

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6.  EVOLUTION OF FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS IN THE RAIL SECTOR 

6.1. 

Infrastructure charging 

Track access charges represented more than 80% of infrastructure managers’ revenues from 
charges in EU27 in 2018 (84% from freight trains and 88% from passenger trains17).  

Track  access  charges  for  high-speed  rail  (excluding  markups)  were  higher  than  other 
passenger charges, with the highest charges in 2018 occurring in the United Kingdom (EUR 
18 per train kilometre) and Belgium (EUR 10.6 per train kilometre).   

Figure 7: Access charges (excluding markups) for different categories of passenger trains, by country (EUR per 
train-km, 2018)  

Source: RMMS, 2020. 

Freight  charges  (excluding  markups)  are  monitored  for  three  different  maximum  gross 
tonnages (1 000, 1 600 and 6 000). In most Member States, access charges increase with train 
size, although not necessarily pro rata with tonnage.  

17   EU28: 84% and 89% respectively.  

7 

 
 
 
                                                 
Figure  8:  Access  charges  (excluding  markups)  for  different  categories  of  freight  trains,  by  country  (EUR  per 
train-km, 2018) 

Source: RMMS, 2020 

There  was  no  clear  upward  or  downward  trend  for  passenger  or  freight  trains  in  reported 
charging18  levels  between  2015  and  2018,  except  for  high-speed  trains  (for  which  track 
access charges decreased everywhere but the United Kingdom).   

The platform of rail infrastructure managers in Europe (PRIME) will carry out an extensive 
study  of  infrastructure  managers’  charging  and  funding  mechanisms,  which  will  be 
completed  in  2021.  The  study  will  include  an  overview  of  track  access  charging  and  its 
various components.  

In order to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regulation 2020/1429, 
adopted in October 2020, makes it possible to reduce the financial burden on the rail sector 
by temporarily easing rules on charges19.  

6.2.  Capacity allocation and infrastructure limitations  

In 2018, the EU27 network had an intensity of use of 18.2 thousand train kilometres per line 
kilometre (19.5 for EU28). The most intensively used networks in 2018 were those in western 
Europe,  particularly  the  Netherlands,  which  has  an  intensity  of  use  of  50.6  thousand  train 
kilometres per line kilometre. Greece appears to have the lowest intensity of use, with only 
4.8 thousand train kilometres per line kilometre. Although these broad national averages say 
nothing  about  the  emptiest  parts  of  the  network,  they  can  provide  some  indications  about 
which networks are, on average, busier than others and could therefore have limited capacity 
for further traffic.  

The total length of track that was declared to be congested in EU27 has risen constantly since 

18   Track access charges excluding markups.  
19   Regulation (EU) 2020/1429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 October 2020 establishing 
measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19 outbreak (OJ L 333, 12.10.2020, p. 1).   

8 

 
 
 
                                                 
2015  and  had  almost  doubled  by  2018.  This  affected  2 261  kilometres  of  track  (3 432 
kilometres in EU28), including 1 339 kilometres along rail freight corridors.  

In cases of congestion, the services most commonly prioritised by Member States are those 
provided  under  a  PSO,  which  is  the  first  priority  in  13 countries,  followed  by  international 
passenger  services  (7 countries).  Freight  traffic  (both  domestic  and  international)  is  seldom 
given first priority.  

To  overcome  operational  infrastructure  limitations  and  incompatibility  between  national 
legacy train control systems, which are significant barriers to smooth interoperability, the EU 
introduced  a  common  European  signalling  system, 
the  European  Railway  Traffic 
Management  System  (ERTMS).  Under  the  ERTMS  European  deployment  plan20,  this 
signalling  system  should  be  deployed  on  15 682  kilometres  of  track  by  2023;  so  far,  the 
system  has  been  installed  on  5 906  kilometres  of  the  planned  track  length  (or  38%),  which 
represents 78% of the target planned for the end of 2019.  

6.3. 

Infrastructure expenditure and funding 

Total  EU27  rail  infrastructure  expenditure  was  EUR  38.7  billion  in  2018  after  a  peak  of 
EUR 39.1 billion in 201521.  

Figure 9: Expenditure on infrastructure and proportion of maintenance and renewals (EUR billion, 2011-2018) 

Source: RMMS, 2020 

In 2018:  

- 

total maintenance and renewal expenditure reported for EU27 was EUR 20.6 billion, i.e. 
53%  of  the  total  expenditure  (EUR  25.8  billion  and  54%  for  EU28),  with  significant 
variations between countries; and  

20   Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2017/6  of  5  January  2017  on  the  European  Rail  Traffic 

Management System European deployment plan, OJ L 3, 6.1.2017, p. 6-28. 

21   EU28: from EUR 49.5 billion in 2015 to EUR 47.5 billion in 2018.  

9 

 
 
                                                 
- 

in  EU27,  national  budgets  accounted  for  72.3%  of  total  expenditure  and  investment  for 
infrastructure, EU co-financing accounted for 8.3% and 19.4% came from other sources, 
including loans, equity financing and charges22.  

6.4.  Quality of rail transport services 

Rail remains one of the safest modes of transport. Travelling by car is almost 50 times riskier 
than  travelling  by  train.  Railway  safety  continued  to  improve  between  2015  and  2018  in 
EU27, despite a slight increase in the number of fatalities and serious injuries in 201623.  

Based  on  the  definition  used24,  the  average  punctuality  of  regional  and  local  passenger 
services  in  EU27  decreased  slightly  from  93%  in  2015  to  90%  in  201825.  The  average 
punctuality of long-distance and high-speed passenger services decreased from 85% in 2015 
to 79% in 201826. The average reliability of local and regional passenger services decreased 
between 2015 and 2018, with the share of cancelled services rising from 1.4% to 1.9%27. The 
average  reliability  of  long-distance  and  high-speed  passenger  services  increased  between 
2015 and 2018, with the share of cancelled services decreasing from 1.5% to 1.3%28. 

The average punctuality29 in 2018 for rail freight in EU27 was 60.0% for domestic and 53.2% 
for  international  services:  7.3%  of  domestic  and  11.0%  of  international  services  were 
cancelled30.   

6.5. 

Public service contracts 

In  2018,  EU27  PSO  passenger  services  represented,  on  average,  60%  of  the  total  rail 
passenger kilometres (from 53% in 201531), around 98% of which cover domestic services. 
Within domestic services, PSO covered more regional than long-distance services.  

22   EU28: 68.8%, 6.6% and 24.5% respectively.  
23   Source: European Union  Agency for Railways’ Report on Railway Safety and Interoperability in the EU 

2020.  

24   RMMS considers a passenger train to be punctual if it is delayed by 5 minutes or less. 
25   EU28: broadly the same figures.  
26   EU28: from 84% to 77% 
27   EU28: from 1.6% to 2.2%.  
28   EU28: increasing from 1.7% to 1.8%.  
29   RMMS considers a freight train to be punctual if it is delayed by 15 minutes or less.  
30   EU28: average punctuality was 63.0% for domestic and 53.2% for international services; 6.8% of domestic 

and 11.0% of international services were cancelled.  

31   EU28: 66%, up from 60% in 2015.  

10 

 
                                                 
Figure 10: Share of passenger traffic offered respectively under PSO and commercial rail services per country (% 
of pax-km, 2018)  

Source: RMMS, 2020. The data for BE, PT, EL and FR are estimates. RO not available.  

Competitive  tendering  was  used  for  only  26%  of  all  PSO  services  active  in  2018  in  EU27 
(43% in EU28), almost exclusively in Member States that had liberalised their services earlier 
(Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom).  

PSO  compensation  remains  a  significant  source  of  revenue  for  railway  undertakings  in  a 
majority of Member States, although levels  of PSO compensation per train  kilometre differ 
widely between countries. In 2018, the average PSO compensation in EU27 was EUR 10.51 
per train kilometre (EUR 8.57 in EU28).  

6.6.  Licensing 

Overall, 1 082 active licences for railway undertakings were reported in EU27 in 2018 (1 126 
in  EU28).  Germany  reported  the  highest  number  (434),  Ireland  and  Luxembourg  the 
lowest (2).  

The  average  fees  required  to  obtain  a  licence  in  2018  (if  any)  varied  from  EUR 37 500  in 
Portugal to EUR 5 in Croatia.  

Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom reported the longest average time to obtain a licence 
(more than 100 days). 

6.7.  Degree of market opening and utilisation of access rights 

The average market share of competitors in the EU27 rail freight market increased from 34% 
to 42% between 2015 and 201832. In 2018, there were new operators competing with national 
incumbents in all countries except Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and Luxembourg, and in more 
than half of them the market share of competitors was over 30%.  

32   EU28: from 35% to 43%.  

11 

 
 
                                                 
Figure  11:  Competitors'  market  share  in  the  rail  freight  market  per  country  (%  in  2018)  and  change  in 
percentage points (2015-2018)  

Source: RMMS, 2020. There is one operator with a 100% market share in EL, IE, LT and LU. 

Open  access  and  mandatory  competitive  tendering  for  public  service  contracts  in  the 
domestic  passenger  market  were  introduced  at  EU  level  only  with  the  Fourth  Railway 
Package.  It  is  too  early  to  see  its  effects  on  countries  that  had  not  opened  their  markets 
beforehand.  

On average, competitors had a 10% market share in national commercial passenger markets 
in EU27 in 2018, an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 201533, and a 16.2% market 
share  in  national  PSO  passenger  markets,  a  level  almost  constant  compared  to  2015  (a 
decrease of 0.5 percentage points34).  

33   EU28: 12%, +2 percentage points compared to 2015. 
34   EU28: 32%, -2 percentage points compared to 2015. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 12: Competitors' market share in the commercial passenger market per country (% in 2018) and change 
in percentage points (2015-2018) 

Source: RMMS, 2020. BG, DK, HR, FI, EL, LT, LU, SI, ES reported no competitors in commercial services with a market share 
of 1% or more for 2018. There were no commercial passenger market services in IE. No data were available for NL and RO. 

Figure  13:  Competitors'  market  share  in  the  PSO  passenger  market  per  country  (%  in  2018)  and  change  in 
percentage points (2015-2018) 

Source: RMMS, 2020. The data for PT in 2015 represent an estimate. No competitors in the PSO passenger market were 
reported by BE, BG, HR, EE, FI, FR, EL, HU, IE, LT, LU, SI and ES. 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6.8.  Employment and social conditions 

At  the  end  of  2018,  just  over  916 000  people  were  employed  in  the  EU27  railway  sector, 
about  527 000  of  them  by  railway  undertakings  (both  main  and  alternative  operators)  and 
389 000 by infrastructure managers35. 

The  rail  workforce  is  predominantly  male;  on  average  only  21%  of  employees  are  women. 
The proportion of female staff varies between 51% in Estonia and 9% in Ireland.  

Figure 14: Total employees (main infrastructure managers plus railway undertakings) by gender structure, (% in 
2018)  

Source: RMMS, 2020. 

The share of younger employees (below 30 years old) working for railway undertakings has 
increased in EU27, from 8.2% in 2015 to 10.6% in 201836. An ageing workforce continues to 
be a concern, especially in Spain, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Lithuania, where over 50% 
of the workforce was over 50 years old in 2018. Infrastructure managers tend to have an older 
workforce  than  railway  undertakings,  but  the  share  of  younger  employees  also  increased 
between 2015 and 2018 from 7.9% to 8.3%.  

35   For  EU28:  just  over  1 034 000  were  employed,  about  600 000  by  railway  undertakings  and  434 000  by 

infrastructure managers.  

36   EU28: 8.4% and 10.6% respectively.  

14 

 
 
                                                 
Figure 15: Employees by age group, (% in 2015-2018) 

Source: RMMS, 2020. Data for 2015 were not available for RUs in LV, LU, ES and SE. Data  for 2015 were not available for 
IMs in ES, LU and LV. 

Full-time  employment  is  the  most  common  status  for  employees  of  both  infrastructure 
managers and railway undertakings. All employees of infrastructure managers appear to have 
permanent contracts in Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg, whereas in Ireland only 89% of 
them  do.  Only  Sweden,  Italy,  Poland,  the  Netherlands,  Germany  and  Norway  reported  a 
proportion of employees in railway undertakings with permanent contracts lower than 95%. 
The lowest share of full-time contracts for infrastructure managers’ staff can be found in the 
Netherlands (83%) and Belgium (88%). In the main railway undertakings, the lowest share of 
full-time contracts can be found in Belgium (86%). 

Only  a  few Member States reported the use  of apprenticeship  and traineeship  programmes, 
which  are  most  common  in  Austria  and  Germany  for  both  railway  undertakings  and 
infrastructure managers. 

7.  CONCLUSIONS 

The  rail  sector  makes  a  substantial  contribution  to  EU27  economic  and  social  cohesion, 
directly employing more than 900 000 people and moving some 1.6 billion tonnes of freight37 
and 7.1 billion passengers38 each year.  

Greater use of rail is critical to satisfy the demand for more sustainable transport and would 
have substantial positive effects on pollution and energy consumption, helping to achieve the 
ambitious emission cuts set out in the European Green Deal.  

While rail passenger volumes have increased consistently over the past few years, rail freight 
volumes  have  increased  more  unevenly.  Train  movements,  both  for  passengers  and  freight, 
have remained stable, while demand for sustainable forms of transport has increased together 
with public awareness about climate change.  

Despite these positive developments, rail is not yet achieving its full potential. Rail transport 

37 Eurostat, EU27 except BE, which labelled data confidential.  
38 Eurostat, EU27 except BE, HU, NL and PL, which labelled data confidential.  

15 

 
 
 
                                                 
needs  to  become  more  punctual  and  reliable  compared  to  other  modes  by  increasing  its 
customer orientation and making better use of innovation. It must also become more efficient 
and affordable.  

To help the sector face its main market challenges, EU action is focusing on four objectives:  

1.  A competitive market  

Fair  access  to  the  market  for  all  operators  will  allow  for  the  introduction  of  new, 
multimodal offers and increased choice for passengers and businesses. 

To  this  end,  the  market  pillar  of  the  Fourth  Railway  Package  introduced  competitive 
tendering  as  the  standard  procedure  for  attributing  public  service  contracts,  with  a 
transition period until December 2023. It also opened access to commercial provision of 
rail domestic passenger services, starting with the 2021 timetable. The Commission will 
be  particularly  vigilant  in  monitoring  the  correct  transposition  and  application  of  the 
Fourth Railway Package, to ensure it achieves its full potential in the medium term.  

Fair  competition  between  transport  modes  should  also  be  promoted,  by  ensuring  each 
mode pays for its external costs.  

2.  Improved cross-border rail services  

Crossing internal EU borders must become a smoother process in order to increase rail’s 
modal  share.  Removal  of  interoperability  barriers,  deployment  of  the  ERTMS, 
availability of appropriate rolling stock and availability of train drivers are fundamental to 
this goal.  

At  the  request  of  the  European  Parliament,  the  Commission  launched  a  study  on  cross-
border, long-distance connections, with a special focus on night train services; a report is 
expected by mid-2021.  

3.  Better rail infrastructure performance  

Ensuring  the  efficient  provision  of  rail  transport  services  requires  a  well-developed 
infrastructure  free  of  bottlenecks  and  missing  links.  The  EU  will  continue  its 
infrastructure  development  policy  through  the  Trans-European  Transport  Network    
(TEN-T), with  significant  financial support being  provided to  rail under the Connecting 
Europe  Facility.  A  more  extensive  high-performance  and  high-speed  network  will 
become available by the end of 2030 with the completion of major TEN-T projects.  

The  rail  sector  absorbs  a  significant  amount  of  public  funding.  A  growing  green  bond 
market  could  allow  a  switch  towards  private  financing  of  sustainable  investments.  The 
Taxonomy  Regulation39  and  its  delegated  acts  establish  the  necessary  framework  and 
criteria for a clear classification system to identify sustainable activities.  

Increasing levels  of congestion are creating bottlenecks, particularly  along the main rail 
corridors, and major maintenance works are preventing the efficient use of the network. 

39   Regulation  (EU)  2020/852  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  18  June  2020  on  the 
establishment  of  a  framework  to  facilitate  sustainable  investment,  and  amending  Regulation  (EU) 
2019/2088, OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13-43. 

16 

 
                                                 
The  Commission  supports  the  sector’s  new  approaches  to  capacity  allocation  and 
management  based  on 
their  prompt 
implementation. 

interconnected  digital  platforms/tools  and 

4.  More customer orientation  

Rail services must meet customers’ needs. Improved punctuality and reliability and better 
access to services in rail facilities are a priority for both passenger and freight services.  

Passengers’  rights  to  information,  assistance,  journey  continuation  and  compensation 
must  be  guaranteed  to  boost  the  use  of  rail.  The  proposal  of  the  Commission  to  recast 
Regulation (EC) 1371/200740, on which an agreement was reached in October 2020 with 
the European Parliament  and the Council, should improve the rights  of passengers with 
disabilities or reduced mobility, clarify rules on enforcement and complaint-handling and 
ensure better passenger protection in cases of travel disruption.   

The rail freight corridors remain the key element of the Commission’s policy to boost rail 
freight. The evaluation of the legal framework for Regulation 913/201041 is preparing the 
ground for additional legislative measures. 

The Commission fully supports initiatives to improve the efficiency and flexibility of the 
timetabling  process,  the  process  for  dealing  with  contingency  situations  and  the 
coordination of temporary capacity restrictions.  

Promoting digitalisation is fundamental for making rail more attractive to businesses. The 
new  Regulation  on  electronic  freight  transport  information  (eFTI42)  will  enable  digital 
business-to-authority exchanges of information. The Commission is also planning to put 
forward a proposal for a European Partnership on Rail Research and Innovation, building 
upon  the  current  Shift2Rail  Joint  Undertaking.  The  future  partnership  will  focus  on 
accelerating  research  and  development  of  innovative  technologies  and  operational 
solutions, facilitated by digitalisation and automation. 

The  European  Year  of  Rail  2021  will  further  support  efforts  to  increase  the  share  of 
passengers and freight moving by rail, sharing knowledge and best practices.  

40   Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on rail 

passengers’ rights and obligations, OJ L 315, 3.12.2007, p. 14-41.  

41   Regulation  (EU)  No  913/2010  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  September  2010 

concerning a European rail network for competitive freight, OJ L 276, 20.10.2010, p. 22-32. 

42   Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 on electronic 

freight transport information, OJ L 249, 31.7.2020, p. 33-48. 

17