THE European Parliament has adopted a new regulation on the use of infrastructure capacity on the European Union (EU) rail network, which is expected to unlock up to 4% of additional capacity, equivalent to nearly 250 million train-km. It is also set to improve cross-border traffic through better coordination between neighbouring infrastructure managers.
Implementing the new regulation will involve two organisations: the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (Enim) and the new European Railway Platform (ERP).
Enim is composed of senior representatives from infrastructure managers and train path allocation bodies, and will develop EU frameworks for long-term planning, cross-border traffic, disruption management, and monitoring performance.
ERP will represent operators to provide input on capacity management, traffic management, performance monitoring and technical standards.
The new capacity management regulation will take account of the digitalisation of train operating systems, and include rules for capacity management during the planning, scheduling, allocation and rescheduling of paths on the EU rail network. The new rules will introduce longer-term planning of train services beyond the annual working timetable while also making it easier to plan additional train services at short notice.
According to the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), preparations are already underway to ensure that the first timetable planned under the new regulatory framework will enter force in December 2030.
“The rail sector is confident that aspects of the regulation can be delivered even earlier and calls for progressive implementation allowing specific elements to be fast-tracked,” CER says.
