1. Recent developments in Rail transport policies
Paolo Bolsi
DG MOVE - Unit A3
Economic Analysis and Impact Assessment
Rail Working Group, 6-7 November 2013

2. Overview Fourth Railway Package Rail Market Monitoring System
White Paper goals related to the rail sector
Statistical needs for policy making

3. Fourth Railway Package

4. Vision for the rail sector
Among 2011 White Paper initiatives:
Establishing a Single European Railway Area
Rail needs to contribute more to an efficient and sustainable transport system. Greater use of rail transport can relieve roads from increasing congestion and reduce some of the negative effects of transport (GHG emissions, local pollution, accidents): it is an essential development in the White Paper scenario.
Greater use of rail should however not be 'imposed', but result from improved rail services.
The elimination of legal and regulatory barriers to market entry and of burdensome administrative procedures is the key to improved rail services.

5. Current situation According to 2012 Eurobarometer on rail competition:
- Only 6% of Europeans use the train at least once a week;
- Rail services are ranked 27th out of 30 services markets, with poor scores on comparability and satisfaction.
Underinvestment, poorly maintained infrastructure and ageing rolling stock are perceived by consumers as most critical factors

6. Legislative interventions
Three successive packages of EU legislation:
- for progressive market opening;
- for independency and account separation between Railway Undertakings and Infrastructure Managers.
Plus accompanying measures (Shift2Rail for promoting innovation, new TEN-T policy with a strong emphasis on rail network, Connecting Europe Facility for infrastructure financing...)
However, obstacles to competition and innovation remain!

7. Fourth Railway Package:
The three pillars
Aims at reducing the remaining barriers to a Single European Railway Area by:
1. Establishing consistent approval procedures for rail interoperability and safety;
2. Opening domestic passenger markets;
3. Create better structures and governance for infrastructure managers.

8. Interoperability and safety
Revising European Railway Agency regulation:
- Transferring to ERA competencies for issuing vehicle authorization for placing on the market and safety certification;
- Establishing a stronger cooperation between ERA and National Safety Agencies;
- Aiming at reducing authorisation time for rolling stock and market entry of new Railway Undertakings.

9. Market Opening
Rail freight and international passenger transport services have already been fully opened. On a national level, competition must be addressed at two levels:
- Open access for commercial services;
- Competitive tendering procedures for Public Service Contracts.
Open access can be restricted if the economic equilibrium of a Public Service Contract is compromised.
Additional elements include fair access to rolling stock, possibilities of integrating ticketing schemes between passenger operators.

10. Infrastructure governance
By amending the Directive establishing SERA, the Commission proposes a higher degree of separation between Infrastructure Managers (IM) and Railway Undertakings (RU)
IMs would be able to perform all functions needed to run the infrastructure in an optimised, efficient and non-discriminatory manner
Common rules for governance structure of IMs will treat all RUs on an equal footing

11. Rail Market Monitoring Scheme

12. Directive 2012/34 (Recast 1st Package)
Commission has to report to Council and European Parliament:
- Evolution of internal market in rail services;
- Evolution of internal market in services supplied to railway undertakings;
- Framework conditions;
- State of the Union Railway network;
- Utilisation of access rights;
- Barriers to more effective rail services;
- Infrastructure limitations.
Article 15 (5):
Member states have to supply on an annual basis the necessary information (…) regarding the use of networks and framework conditions while respecting the role of social partners
Article 15 (6):
Commission may adopt measures to ensure consistency in reporting obligations

13. Rail Market Monitoring
Monitors the following aspects of rail sector:
- Infrastructure charging & Capacity allocations;
- Licensing & degree of market opening;
- Harmonization between member states;
- Infrastructure investments;
- Developments as regards prices;
- Quality of rail transport services;
- Rail transport covered by Public Service Obligations;
- Employment and social conditions.
Through existing indicators or data collection by questionnaires to member states.

14. Review of RMMS
The advisory procedure involves SERAC (Single European Rail Area Committee).
Preparation requires consultation of the RMMS Working Group of the SERAC.
All stakeholders are involved in the process: social partners, regulators, European Railway Agency, users…

15. RMMS indicators for monitoring
Infrastructure charging: typical Track Access Charge (€ per train-km) for freight, intercity and suburban trains.
Collected through questionnaire.
Way forward: breakdown station charges, service facilities charges.
Capacity allocation: intensity of the network.
ESTAT data: train-km/km.
Way forward: collecting data on infrastructure declared as congested, data on stations and on path allocation process, as in the network statements.

16. RMMS indicators for monitoring
Investment in infrastructure: distinguished by maintenance, enhancement and renewals.
Collected through questionnaire.
Way forward: collecting data on ERMTS deployment and PRM accessibility.
Price developments: ESTAT HICP for transport, railway services included.
Way forward: examining a fares for a set of lines (both PSO and commercial) and a set of types of travels.

17. RMMS indicators for monitoring
Quality of services: through the Eurobarometer survey.
Way forward: define indicators for quality in the rail sector, like punctuality and reliability.
PSO rail services: Collecting through RMMS questionnaire passenger-km in PSO.
Way forward: enshrine existing data collection, track calls for tender for PSO published in OJEU.

18. RMMS indicators for monitoring
Degree of harmonization: observing legislative convergence.
Social indicators: Currently using ESTAT structural business statistics indicators.
Way forward: obtaining data on gender balance, age structure and types of work contracts.
Next steps:
Next meeting RMMS WG in February 2014;
Exploring synergies with other databases;
Presentation to SERAC in spring 2014;
Possible adoption next year as Commission Regulation.

19. 2011 White Paper goals related to the rail sector

20. The 2011 White Paper strategy 4 “i”s, 40 actions and 10 goals
nternal market: Create a genuine Single European Transport Area by eliminating all residual barriers between modes and national systems. I
nnovation: EU research needs to address the full cycle of research, innovation and deployment in an integrated way. I
nfrastructure: EU transport infrastructure policy needs a common vision and sufficient resources.
The costs of transport should be reflected in its price in an undistorted way. I
nternational: Opening up third country markets in transport services, products and investments continues to have high priority. I

21. Selected goals from the White Paper
(1) 30% of road freight over 300 km should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2030, and more than 50% by 2050, facilitated by efficient and green freight corridors. To meet this goal will also require appropriate infrastructure to be developed.
(2) By 2050, complete a European high-speed rail network. Triple the length of the existing high-speed rail network by 2030 and maintain a dense railway network in all Member States. By 2050 the majority of medium-distance passenger transport should go by rail.

22. Selected goals from the White Paper
(3) A fully functional and EU-wide multimodal TEN-T 'core network' by 2030, with a high-quality and capacity network by 2050 and a corresponding set of information services.
(4) By 2050, connect all core network airports to the rail network, preferably high-speed; ensure that all core seaports are sufficiently connected to the rail freight and, where possible, inland waterway system.

23. Statistical needs for policy making

24. Current statistical needs
- A modal split for the rail sector by distance classes in order to measure the White Paper goals related to medium distance transport.
- Activity-based statistics on GHG emissions for the rail sector.
- Statistics on High-Speed infrastructure and performance.
- Data on rail transit passenger in order to have a complete view of rail transport activity within European Countries.

25. Thank you for your attention