Green light of the European Parliament to the fourth railway package



The European Parliament has approved of today so-called the fourth railway package that introduces norms based on which the supply of services for national the rail shipment of passengers in the Eu country will have to be assigned through contract contests. Such rules - in the attempt of the legislator - aim also to stimulate the investments and the development of new commercial services.

In particular, the railway ones will be able to offer to own services for national the rail shipment of passengers in the railway markets insides of the EU in two ways. A modality previews that in the cases in which the national authorities they will adjudicate relative contracts of public service to the services of rail shipment of passengers, the procedure of the public contract opened to all the railway operators EU gradually becomes the procedure standard. Exceptionally the national authorities will be able to have the right to adjudicate contracts directly, without to call a contest, but for being able to choose such option they will have to support that such decision carries for example to improvements for a series of requirement of performance (, punctuality and frequency of the services, quality of the rotabile material and ability to transport) and to apply it single in the cases of services publics under a sure medium value anniversary or for the supply of services of public transport of passengers (7,5 million euros or 500,000 km).

The second modality previews that every railway society can offer competitive commercial services on the European railway markets for the transport fleeting. However, in order to guarantee the supply of all the services that the countries EU wish to supply in the within of contracts of public service, the Member States can limit the right of access of a new operator to only determined railway lines. An objective economic analysis by the national regolator will be necessary in order to determine in which cases the access could be limited. Moreover they will have to be estimated potential conflicts of interest in order to guarantee that the managers of the railway infrastructure operate in impartial way, so that all the operators have the same access to the traces and the stations.

The provision previews that the railway societies will be able beginning from to offer new commercial services on the national drafts on December 14, 2020 and that the contract contests will have to become the general rule for new contracts of public service from December 2023, except some exceptions.

According to the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), the association that represents the new operators entering in the railway market, this fourth railway package constitutes "a lost occasion in order to create conditions of competitive parity between the railroad and other modalities of transport". In particular, the ERFA has manifested regret because "the adoption of the political pillar of the fourth railway package sends back the urgent and necessary reforms of the railway field, putting in danger the attrattività of the rail shipment in it confronts of the passengers and the users".

"Even if the technical pillar of the fourth railway package is an important and total positive step forward for the railway field - it has found the ERFA - the political pillar is dominated by the egoisms of the national operators and monopolistic faces to strengthen the position of the state railway companies to discapito of the passengers and the users".

"The failure of the fourth railway package in separating effectively the trains from the railway traces - it has evidenced the ERFA - prevents the completion of the only European railway space, in which all the railway enterprises would have to be able to compete on the same level in fair way and of parity".

"Also in this case - he has continued the association - the winner of the fourth railway package is the street field, that he has succeeded in attracting the investments, the innovation and the attention of politics, getting ahead an ambitious program of modernization, as implotonamento of the trucks and of electrification of the roads. Irony of the risen ones, the lack of reform of the railway field represents a great opportunity for the street field that can be set in front line in the agenda of the decarbonizzazione".

"Now that the legislative process has come to an end - has concluded the association - ERFA will work actively for the correct one, it completes and timely application of the norms EU to the aim to assure better than the conditions than base for a opened railway market they are satisfied. Moreover ERFA will continue to intensify the dialogue with the agencies regolators, that they have a role important to carry out in order to safeguard the just context for competitive railroads".