The new Regulation on the use of railway capacity across the European Union could generate up to 4% additional capacity, equivalent to almost 250 million train-km. In addition, the new legislation will strengthen cross-border railway capacity coordination in order to improve punctuality and reliability and encourage a modal shift towards rail transport.

An increasing share of the European rail network is facing high levels of congestion, limiting the introduction of additional services and affecting the development of rail transport. The modernisation of infrastructure and the expansion of digital solutions, including the deployment of the ERTMS, are expected to gradually increase the available network capacity over the coming years. Even under these conditions, infrastructure managers will need to rely on more efficient planning and early coordination with operators in order to manage the high demand for rail paths on heavily used corridors.

The new rules will enter into force on the day following their publication in the Official Journal of the EU. They will start to apply from the day after entering into force, while certain provisions will be gradually implemented between 2028 and 2031.

The Regulation provides for two organisations

The European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM): bringing together infrastructure managers on the TEN-T core and extended core network, as well as representatives of capacity allocation bodies. ENIM will adopt European frameworks for railway capacity management, cross-border traffic coordination and disruption management, and will assess the performance of the railway network.

ENIM will receive additional powers for coordinating cross-border rail traffic and railway capacity through a common European framework. It will monitor and benchmark the performance of railway infrastructure managers to ensure that their objectives are aligned with EU targets, including those related to the modal shift towards rail transport.

ENIM is expected to develop and adapt a railway capacity management framework within 18 months of the Regulation entering into force.

The European Railway Platform (ERP): will bring together representatives of all stakeholders involved in railway transport services, including, but not limited to, railway operators, service facility managers and multimodal terminal operators. This structure will provide ENIM with opinions during the drafting of European frameworks, as well as practical experience and concrete suggestions for specific challenges, thereby contributing to improving the operation of European railway transport services

Strategic management of rail network capacity

Under the new regulation, the planning of railway capacity use will be divided into three periods. The first involves strategic planning that shall cover a period that starts five years before the change of working timetable to which it relates. In this case, infrastructure managers must take into account, in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner, all types of rail transport services for which they may receive capacity requests, regardless of their volume, the size of the market served, stability between successive timetables, regularity or frequency within a timetable period.

In the strategic planning of railway capacity, infrastructure managers must at least differentiate between freight transport services, long-distance passenger transport services, and urban and regional passenger transport services.

If necessary, based on the experience gained from implementing the regulation and in order to ensure better cross-border consistency in strategic planning, the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) may, in consultation with operational stakeholders and the European Railway Platform (ERP), develop a more detailed harmonised list further differentiating rail service types. This list will be integrated into the European framework for capacity management.

Capacity planning must cover the line sections and nodes forming part of the TEN-T core and extended core network.

Rail path allocation and traffic coordination

In this case, applicants may submit a request to the infrastructure manager in order to obtain a right to use railway capacity, while infrastructure managers grant these rights either in the form of capacity specifications or train paths. Subsequently, before the actual train operation takes place, capacity specifications are converted into concrete train paths enabling the actual operation on the network.

Once allocated, a railway capacity right may not be transferred by the beneficiary to another company or another service. Any attempt to transfer it will result in exclusion from future capacity allocations for both the current timetable period and the following one.

ENIM establishes the intervals for this minimum threshold and includes them in the European capacity management framework, while infrastructure managers publish a new timetable before each operational period.

Adaptation and rescheduling

After railway paths have been allocated, the European rules stipulate that any modification must be treated as an exception and applied only when absolutely necessary, with the obligation to immediately inform all parties involved and, wherever possible, maintain an alternative solution for operating the service. These changes must be managed in such a way as to minimise the impact on operations, including in situations where a path crosses several national networks.

In order to distinguish between minor adjustments and changes with a major impact, ENIM will analyse a series of criteria related to the operation of the rail service, including whether the operator can still fulfil its obligations, whether significant delays, route changes or increases in journey times and infrastructure access costs occur, while also establishing clear thresholds for such situations.

In addition, the European Commission will be responsible for adjusting the implementation framework through delegated acts in order to make the rescheduling process more efficient, including by introducing the possibility of “rescheduling windows” for minor works, taking into account the experience of infrastructure managers and applicants, as well as the balance between planning, operational, technical and commercial considerations.

Penalties are foreseen

In order to guarantee the maximum use of railway networks, the new rules introduce penalties for infrastructure managers or railway operators that fail to comply with their commitments.

Where an infrastructure manager or applicant fails to fulfil its commitments regarding allocated train paths and capacity, and this results in a significant modification, the responsible party will be required to pay a penalty to the other party. The penalty must be effective, proportionate, dissuasive and non-discriminatory, while its level will be set between a minimum and a maximum threshold.

According to the regulation, the minimum and maximum level of penalties will range between EUR 1 and EUR 8 per km of the affected path, with the possibility of being doubled depending on the impact of the modification. The level of penalties will be reviewed every two years and adjusted in line with inflation, with the first such review to be carried out in 2033.

The penalty payable by the infrastructure manager will not vary depending on the market segment of the rail service, while the penalty applied to the applicant will be differentiated according to the market segment of the transport service.

The new European rules establish how penalties are calculated when a railway capacity right involves several national networks. In such cases, the total amount of penalties is obtained by adding together the values applicable on each network involved, including any adjustments.

If the modification or failure to comply with commitments is caused by the infrastructure manager, it will be required to pay penalties to the applicant in relation to the entire path. In addition, the sanction may reach up to three times the level applied on its own network, but may not exceed the total combined penalties for the entire capacity right.

Conversely, where the modification is requested by the operator, it will bear penalties payable to all infrastructure managers involved, with the amount being distributed among them in proportion to the network section they manage.