The EU Rail Freight Corridors in the context of freight transport on the

Europe-Asia landbridge

Edyta Jaszczuk-JezierskaMember of the Management Board of Rail Freight Corridor

8

EU-Russia Rail Research WorkshopMoscow

17th October 2012

• Rail freight modal share is low – 16.2% of land freight in Europe is transported by rail, for road this factor is 72.7%* (remaining goods are transported via inland waterways and pipelines).

• Disproportion between costs of rail and road transport which favors road transport is evident.

• Differences between national rail systems exist (e.g. lack of interoperability, different operational rules, different financial frameworks etc.).

• Rail freight uses the same infrastructure as passenger transport and some capacity restrictions are problematic.

• There is a need to create a more attractive offer for Railway Undertakings and end customers.

2•Source: EU Transport in figures. Statistical Pocketbook 2012, the European Commission.

• 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 entered into force on 9th November 2010.

• The Regulation lays down rules for the establishment and organisation of international rail corridors with a view to the development of a European rail network for competitive freight.

• Sets out rules for the selection, organisation, management and the indicative investment planning of freight corridors.

3

• ‘Freight corridor’ means all designated railway lines, including railway ferry lines, on the territory of or between Member States, and, where appropriate, European third countries, linking two or more terminals, along a principal route and, where appropriate, diversionary routes and sections connecting them, including the railway infrastructure and its equipment and relevant rail services in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 2001/14/EC.

• The Regulation defines 9 initial freight corridors.

• There is a possibility to create further corridors: a proposal from all involved Member States is required and has to be approved by the European Commission.

• Every Member State has to participate in at least one corridor (exceptions are possible).

4

• The establishment of a freight corridor should take into account, where appropriate, the need for better interconnections with the rail infrastructure of European third countries.

• ‘Terminal’ means the installation provided along the freight corridor which has been specially arranged to allow either the loading and/or the unloading of goods onto/from freight trains, and the integration of rail freight services with road, maritime, river and air services, and either the forming or modification of the composition of freight trains; and, where necessary, performing border procedures at borders with European third countries.

• The creation of further corridors must take into account i.a. better interconnections between Member States and European third countries.

5

Rotterdam

Antwerp

Bremerhaven

Berlin

Warsaw

Terespol

Kaunas

Bremerhaven/ Rotterdam/Antwerp – Aachen/Berlin –

Warsaw – Terespol (Poland-Belarus border)/Kaunas

Establishment by 10 November 2015

Routing not fixed yet!

7

• Involved Member States: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Lithuania created in March 2012 the Executive Board.

• The Management Board of Rail Freight Corridor 8 has been created by Infrabel, ProRail, KeyRail, DB Netz AG, PKP PLK S.A., LG and VGI in May 2012.

• Advisory Groups of Railway Undertakings and Terminal owners/managers will be established by the end of this year.

• Routing will be fixed by the Management Board after transport market study.

8

• The Executive Board is the decision-making body at Ministerial level,

• The Management Board is the decision-making body of Infrastructure Managers and Allocation Body, responsible for implementing most of the tasks. All decisions are taken unanimously.

• Advisory Group of Railway Undertakings and Advisory Group of terminal owners/managers has a consultative role.

9

Strengthening the role of rail freight transport on the axis.

Increasing rail freight traffic.

Improving quality in terms of capacity and reliability.

Deepening cooperation particularly with regard to:

• path allocation,

• traffic management,

• investment planning,

• coordination of works.

10

• Offer of pre-arranged train paths: facilitation of journey times, frequencies, times of departure and destination, routings suitable for freight transport services.

• Jointly defined reserve capacity for ad-hoc requests.

• Commitment – a train path allocated may not be cancelled later than two months before its scheduled time. If cancelled, another train path of similar quality should be offered.

• Promotion of coordination of priority rules relating to capacity allocation on the freight corridor.

• Bottleneck relief, improvement of railway infrastructure parameters in accordance with a corridor investment plan.

11

• Corridor OSS (One-Stop-Shop) as a single contact point.

• Allows applicants to request and to receive answers, in a single place and in a single operation, regarding infrastructure capacity for freight trains crossing at least one border along the freight corridor.

• Corridor OSS allocates corridor capacity (pre-arranged train paths or reserve capacity) or – if the request cannot be met by the Corridor OSS – forwards the application to the competent infrastructure manager or allocation body who shall take the decision.

• Use of interoperable IT-applications to handle requests for international train path.

12

• Adoption of common targets for punctuality and/or guidelines for traffic management in the event of disturbance to train movements on the freight corridor.

• Putting in place procedures for coordinating traffic management along the freight corridor.

• Using interoperable IT-applications to handle the operation of international freight traffic on the freight corridor.

• Monitoring the performance of rail freight services on the freight corridor.

13

• Publication and regular update of a document containing information on the conditions of use of the freight corridor. For example:

o overview of information contained in the network statement for national networks,

o list and characteristics of terminals, in particular information concerning the conditions and methods of accessing the terminals,

o information on capacity allocation,

o information on the schedule for carrying out works on the infrastructure.

• Annual publication of reports concerning performance and customer satisfaction.

14

15

Thank you for your attention!