The EU Rail Freight Corridors in the context of
freight transport on the Europe-Asia landbridge
Edyta Jaszczuk-Jezierska
Member of the Management Board of Rail Freight Corridor 8
EU-Russia Rail Research Workshop
Moscow
17th October 2012
• Rail freight modal share is low – 16.2% of land freight in Europe is
transported by rail, for road this factor is 72.7%* (remaining goods are
transported via inland waterways and pipelines).
• Disproportion between costs of rail and road transport which favors
road transport is evident.
• Differences between national rail systems exist (e.g. lack of
interoperability, different operational rules, different financial
frameworks etc.).
• Rail freight uses the same infrastructure as passenger transport and
some capacity restrictions are problematic.
• There is a need to create a more attractive offer for Railway
Undertakings and end customers.
•Source: EU Transport in figures. Statistical Pocketbook 2012,
the European Commission.
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• Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 22 September 2010 concerning a European rail network
for competitive freight entered into force on 9th November 2010.
• The Regulation lays down rules for the establishment and
organisation of international rail corridors with a view to the
development of a European rail network for competitive freight.
• Sets out rules for the selection, organisation, management and the
indicative investment planning of freight corridors.
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• ‘Freight corridor’ means all designated railway lines, including
railway ferry lines, on the territory of or between Member States, and,
where appropriate, European third countries, linking two or more
terminals, along a principal route and, where appropriate,
diversionary routes and sections connecting them, including the
railway infrastructure and its equipment and relevant rail services in
accordance with Article 5 of Directive 2001/14/EC.
• The Regulation defines 9 initial freight corridors.
• There is a possibility to create further corridors: a proposal from all
involved Member States is required and has to be approved by the
European Commission.
• Every Member State has to participate in at least one corridor
(exceptions are possible).
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• The establishment of a freight corridor should take into account,
where appropriate, the need for better interconnections with the rail
infrastructure of European third countries.
• ‘Terminal’ means the installation provided along the freight corridor
which has been specially arranged to allow either the loading and/or
the unloading of goods onto/from freight trains, and the integration of
rail freight services with road, maritime, river and air services, and
either the forming or modification of the composition of freight trains;
and, where necessary, performing border procedures at borders with
European third countries.
• The creation of further corridors must take into account i.a. better
interconnections between Member States and European third
countries.
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Bremerhaven/
Rotterdam/Antwerp
– Aachen/Berlin –
Warsaw – Terespol
(Poland-Belarus
border)/Kaunas
Kaunas
Bremerhaven
Warsaw
Rotterdam
Antwerp
Establishment
by 10 November 2015
Routing not fixed yet!
Berlin
Terespol
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• Involved Member States: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland
and Lithuania created in March 2012 the Executive Board.
• The Management Board of Rail Freight Corridor 8 has been created
by Infrabel, ProRail, KeyRail, DB Netz AG, PKP PLK S.A., LG and
VGI in May 2012.
• Advisory Groups of Railway Undertakings and Terminal
owners/managers will be established by the end of this year.
• Routing will be fixed by the Management Board after transport market
study.
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• The Executive Board is the decision-making body at Ministerial level,
• The Management Board is the decision-making body of Infrastructure
Managers and Allocation Body, responsible for implementing most of
the tasks. All decisions are taken unanimously.
• Advisory Group of Railway Undertakings and Advisory Group of
terminal owners/managers has a consultative role.
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 Strengthening the role of rail freight transport on the axis.
 Increasing rail freight traffic.
 Improving quality in terms of capacity and reliability.
 Deepening cooperation particularly with regard to:
• path allocation,
• traffic management,
• investment planning,
• coordination of works.
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• Offer of pre-arranged train paths: facilitation of journey times,
frequencies, times of departure and destination, routings suitable for
freight transport services.
• Jointly defined reserve capacity for ad-hoc requests.
• Commitment – a train path allocated may not be cancelled later than
two months before its scheduled time. If cancelled, another train path
of similar quality should be offered.
• Promotion of coordination of priority rules relating to capacity
allocation on the freight corridor.
• Bottleneck relief, improvement of railway infrastructure parameters in
accordance with a corridor investment plan.
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• Corridor OSS (One-Stop-Shop) as a single contact point.
• Allows applicants to request and to receive answers, in a single place
and in a single operation, regarding infrastructure capacity for freight
trains crossing at least one border along the freight corridor.
• Corridor OSS allocates corridor capacity (pre-arranged train paths or
reserve capacity) or – if the request cannot be met by the Corridor
OSS – forwards the application to the competent infrastructure
manager or allocation body who shall take the decision.
• Use of interoperable
international train path.
IT-applications
to
handle
requests
for
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• Adoption of common targets for punctuality and/or guidelines for
traffic management in the event of disturbance to train movements on
the freight corridor.
• Putting in place procedures for coordinating traffic management along
the freight corridor.
• Using interoperable IT-applications to handle the operation of
international freight traffic on the freight corridor.
• Monitoring the performance of rail freight services on the freight
corridor.
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• Publication and regular update of a document containing information
on the conditions of use of the freight corridor. For example:
o overview of information contained in the network statement for
national networks,
o list and characteristics of terminals, in particular information
concerning the conditions and methods of accessing the
terminals,
o information on capacity allocation,
o information on the schedule for carrying out works on the
infrastructure.
• Annual publication of reports concerning performance and
customer satisfaction.
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Thank you for your attention!
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