In its meeting on 6 June the Plenary Assembly adopted a statement describing the needs of the Railway Undertakings organised in Forum Train Europe. Operators for both, passenger and freight services demand that their concerns are taken into account when the new Capacity Management Regulation is being negotiated by the European co-legislators.
Improving the capacity allocation processes has been one of the key topics for FTE members. Together with RailNetEurope, FTE members have designed the TTR Process as an innovative way to make the capacity allocation fit for what the passenger and freight market needs. The European Commission has acknowledged this initiative, proposing a legal framework to enable the realisation of the TTR Process.
After the European Commission has published the draft for a new Regulation in July 2023, the European Parliament has adopted its position on March with an ample majority from all political groups. Most recently, the Council of the European Union has adopted its position on 18 June 2024.
Ahead of the pivotal Trilogue discussions, the FTE members have adopted a statement emphasizing their demands at the Plenary Assembly on 6 June 2024:
"Underlining earlier RU positions in FTE and following ongoing discussions on the future capacity management regulation, RUs require
- Common European rules, not superseded by national ones
- Increased reliability of rail services, for which the regulation shall allow improvements in TCR planning procedures and real reciprocal incentives towards IMs to stick to commitments made
- A common, independent RU voice towards ENIM/NC to provide market input to the IMs work
- A regulatory oversight on the work of ENIM/NC work to balance the strong IM powers over RUs business. This shall cover European Frameworks as well as cross border planning.
- An effective performance review, including meaningful KPIs"
The FTE members emphasise the importance of the final legislation reflecting the collective European vision.
For more information on the findings of the technical analysis done by the FTE Community, see our dedicated webpage.