Brussels, 17/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The fourth rail package currently being prepared will decide the fate of the infrastructure managers, the Commissioner responsible for the issue has pledged, to allow the managers to be “efficient and effective market players”; it is likely that this will be achieved by means of a clearer and wider definition of their main functions. Siim Kallas told the closing ceremony of the “Rail in Europe, Preparing for the Future” conference at the European Parliament, on Tuesday 16 October, that the “infrastructure management functions which are potential sources of discrimination should be kept apart from service operations”. At this stage, charges for infrastructure and the allocation of rail capacity are seen as essential functions. But these also include infrastructure maintenance, renewal, upgrading and development, day-to-day traffic management and the provision of real-time information, “which are intrinsically related”. He intends these functions to be carried out neutrally and independently.
This is precisely what the independent infrastructure managers, meeting within the European association EIM, are hoping for. They are pleading for the fourth railway package to allow infrastructure managers not to face situations of conflict of interest. In order for independence from a rail operator to be established, therefore, their mandate would have to be extended, a scenario towards which the Commission appears to be moving. As summed up by Monika Heiming, the executive director of EIM speaking at the same conference, the infrastructure managers need to have full control at three levels: over costs, over prices and over transported capacity. These elements must not be fragmented between various players on the rail market, but should lie in the hands of the infrastructure managers. The infrastructure managers will therefore support the Commission's proposals, as long as they guarantee that they can be on top of any concern regarding their neutrality. This could be achieved by the separate model, EIM acknowledges, not recommending any particular model until the Commission manages to clarify the situation and harmonise the rules European level.
The fourth railway package is expected by the end of the year. It is to resolve the problems related to the integrated model and liberalise the domestic passenger transport market, amongst other things. However, as no impact assessment has yet been published, its presentation is likely to be delayed. On Monday, Commissioner Kallas met the stakeholders at a high-level group meeting to hear their opinions on these issues once again. (MD/transl.fl)