Brussels, 16/01/2012 (Agence Europe) -The European railway infrastructure managers (EIM) would like the European Commission to look more closely at energy billing for railways, particularly for estimated consumption in international trains. The association explains that it already has methodology to better calculate electricity consumed on the cross-border corridors and is waiting for a gesture from the Commission.
Each national railway network uses a different billing system, which makes life harder for the infrastructure managers, who subsequently have to pass on the costs to consumers. It is therefore important for data on energy consumption to be collected in the same way throughout the Union. In order to do this, EIM has already developed a harmonised approach by means of the EMS (Energy Measuring System) and a re-assessment method to ensure that a process carried out in one country is accepted by the other member states. EIM would like its initiatives to be used to support the work of the European Commission, and the European Railway Agency (ERA) in particular, in implementing the energy and rail interoperability directives. The association even calls on the Commission to take initiatives regarding the member states to promote a generalised acceptance of the use of the EMS and the cross-border movement of trains with these measuring systems on board. (MD/transl.fl)