The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached yesterday on the regulation on the use of railway infrastructure capacity.
Rail tracks are expensive to build and increasingly congested in the EU. The new regulation will optimise their use, improve cross-border coordination, increase punctuality and reliability, and ultimately attract more passengers and goods to rail.
Passengers will benefit from additional and more frequent rail services as the capacity of the network will be better used, including across borders.
Following the political agreement, the European Parliament and the Council will now formally adopt the regulation, which will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The railway sector will immediately begin implementing the new regulatory framework, by starting their multiannual strategic planning. The first timetable will enter into effect in December 2030.
Background
Current rules on capacity management are decided annually, nationally and manually. This does not favour cross-border traffic – in particular for rail freight, where around 50% of traffic crosses borders. The future, harmonised approach will reduce delays at borders and supports the smooth functioning of the single market.
The new rules will complement the ongoing work under the EU’s new High-speed rail plan, contributing to better and faster train connections across Europe.
