Government supports Commission proposal to promote more efficient use of rail capacity

The Government submitted a Union communication to Parliament on the European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area. The Government supports the objectives of the Commission proposal.

On 11 July 2023, the European Commission issued a proposal for a Greening Freight Transport Package. The Package includes measures to improve the efficiency and sustainability of transport.

As part of the Greening Freight Package, a proposal was submitted for a Regulation on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area. It aims to make the European rail network more efficient.

By developing capacity planning and reforming the capacity allocation process, the Commission aims to generate considerable savings as larger volumes of traffic can be accommodated on the existing rail network without making expensive investments. This would benefit both passengers and rail freight customers.

According to the proposal, rail transport undertakings could apply for rail capacity more flexibly than at present throughout the year, which would facilitate the market access of new undertakings.

The Commission aims to develop rail capacity and traffic management processes so that rail transport be better prepared for different disruptions and crisis situations.

The Government supports the objectives of the Commission proposal. The Government welcomes the fact that the proposal partly differentiates national and international transport, which means that the requirements have also been set at different levels.

When processing the proposal, the Government will assess whether the requirements could be further staggered, for example in terms of capacity allocation requirements for rail transport within an EU Member State and between Member States. There is hardly any intra-EU rail transport in Finland, which means that this could reduce the administrative burden arising from the proposal at the national level.

Next steps

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament will start to process the regulation proposal in September 2023. Once they both have adopted the regulation, it will enter into force.

Inquiries:

Emil Asp, Director of Unit, emil.asp(at)gov.fi, tel. +358 295 342 498