Yesterday, the European Commission adopted Regulation no. 1184/2026 on the use of infrastructure capacity Single European Railway Area, which amends the Directive 34/2012 and repealing Regulation 913/2010. The new rule aims to introduce a more harmonised approach to capacity planning with the aim of improving punctuality and reliability of both the services passenger and freight rail systems, making them smoother cross-border rail operations.

The Commission has highlighted that, if the current management of the of rail capacity is largely organised annually, at national level and through manual procedures, with A fragmented approach that doesn't adequately support traffic international rail transport and in particular freight transport on rail where about half of all traffic crosses at least one national border, the new rules aim to address challenges by strengthening cross-border coordination and introducing multi-annual capacity planning infrastructural.

Regulation No 1184/2026 entered into force today having been published yesterday in the "Official Gazette of the European Union" and, according to forecasts, the first timetable developed as part of the new system should enter into in force in December 2030.

Today, with the entry into force of the new European regulation, the rail and intermodal industry associations ALLRAIL, CER, ERFA, FTE, UIP and UIRR and that of the port sector FEPORT have formally submitted their proposal to the European Commission joint venture for the establishment of the European Railway Platform (European Railway Platform - ERP) provided for by the regulation as counterpart of the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) Platform of Rail Infrastructure Managers in Europe (PRIME), the Platform of Railway Infrastructure Managers in Europe founded with the aim of implementing the Single Railway Area European.

Recalling that under the new EU rules on railway capacity and traffic management, the ERP will become the collective operational voice of rail operators and other market participants, including railway undertakings for the transport of passengers and goods, operators of service facilities, competent authorities and other actors directly involved in railway operations, the associations have highlighted that their proposal allows the ERP to act as a strong and consolidating counterparty of ENIM, representing the market players in all rail segments.

ALLRAIL, CER, ERFA, FEPORT, FTE, UIP and UIRR have specified that they have conceived ERP as an inclusive platform open to all stakeholders, including new market entrants and smaller organizations with limited resources that will have, at the same time, a governance structure that will ensure that operational effectiveness through clear decision-making procedures, a balance between the different governing bodies and a organizational streamlined.

The seven associations have urged the European Commission to assess their ERP proposal in a timely manner and communicate its approval as soon as possible, to allow European Railway Platform to become operational as soon as possible possible by ensuring market representation from the outset of the new governance process.