Fourth Railway Package Explained

The fourth railway package is a set of changes to rail transport regulation in the European Union law.^[1] It covers standards and authorisation for rolling stock; workforce skills; independent management of infrastructure; and the liberalisation of domestic passenger services in an attempt to reduce European rail subsidies.^[2]

Background

The fourth railway package attempts to reform railways companies (whether private or public) that are able to raise prices if they dominate both tracks and the trains. Because of scepticism in most countries about the value of liberalisation, the package permits tracks and trains to be owned by a single holding company.^{[3] [4]} The "compliance verification clause" could allow regulators to place sanctions on parts of a vertically integrated rail business which place obstacles in the way of competitors trying to provide services on their network; this would improve competition.^[5]

Responsibility for authorising rolling stock to use a network would be shifted away from network owners and towards the European Railway Agency. This is expected to be faster and cheaper.^[6]

In 2015, the technical and political pillars of the package were accepted by EU transport ministers and currently the European Commission, Parliament and Council are negotiating to reach an agreement on the text of the regulations.^{[7] [8]} The technical pillar of the fourth railway package has been adopted by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament in April 2016.^[9]

Legislation

The package left five main pieces of EU railway legislation, on the EU Agency for Railways, the main Single European Railway Directive 2012, and directives on safety, interoperability, and procurement rules. The package is as follows:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/796 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the European Union Agency for Railways and repealing Regulation (EC) No 881/2004
• Directive (EU) 2016/2370 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 amending Directive 2012/34/EU as regards the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail and the governance of the railway infrastructure (major law, amending the Single European Railway Directive 2012)
• Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on the interoperability of the rail system within the European Union (the "Interoperability Directive 2016" (2016/797) sets out technical specifications and rules to harmonise them)
• Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on railway safety (a "Railway Safety Directive 2016" (2016/798) setting out common safety standards)
• Regulation (EU) 2016/2338 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 amending Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 concerning the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail (amending the Rail Service Contracts Regulation 2007 (1370/2007) for the process of procurement and tendering)
• Regulation (EU) 2016/2337 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 repealing Regulation (EEC) No 1192/69 of the council on common rules for the normalisation of the accounts of railway undertakings (minor amending law, now expired)

See also

• United Kingdom enterprise law
• ERTMS – A pan-European signalling system being promoted by the EU.
• Single European Railway Directive 2012 (consolidating legislation from the first to fourth package)
• European Railway Agency
• Rail transport in Europe
• Second railway package
• Third railway package

Notes and References

1. News: Fourth Railway Package: lifting market entry barriers to improve passenger services. 9 March 2014. European Parliament News. 17 December 2013.
2. News: Compliance Verification Clause unlocks the Fourth Railway Package. 31 January 2013. Railway Gazette International.
3. News: Does Europe want Germany to run all its railways?. 21 January 2013. Lloyd's Loading list. 2 February 2013.
4. News: Gdynia attacks north European gateways while EU fudges rail package. 1 February 2013. The Loadstar. 2 February 2013.
5. News: EC unveils draft Fourth Railway Package. 30 January 2012. International Railway Journal. 31 January 2013.
6. Web site: The Fourth Railway Package. European Union. 9 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140310035421/http://cor.europa.eu/en/activities/commissions/coter/Documents/paquet-ec.pdf. 10 March 2014. dead.
7. Web site: Ministers agree on political pillar of Fourth Railway Package.
8. Web site: TRAN Committee approves technical pillar of Fourth Railway Package.
9. News: European Parliament approves Fourth Railway Package technical pillar. Railway Gazette. 28 April 2016. 7 September 2016.