Brussels, 26/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - Under the terms of European Regulation 1371/2007 on rail passengers' rights and obligations, rail passengers are entitled to a partial refund of the price of their train ticket in the event of significant delay, even where that delay is attributable to force majeure. Carriers cannot rely on rules of international law which exempt them in cases of force majeure from paying compensation for loss suffered as a result of delay to avoid their obligation to refund.
With its judgment of 26 September (case C-509/11) the Court of Justice of the EU responded to the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Austrian Administrative Court) which asked, in substance, which of the two legal acts had primacy. The Uniform Rules on the contract for international carriage (Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail, of May 1980), reproduced in the annex to the regulation, exempts the carrier from the requirement to pay compensation to passengers if, as a result of a delay due to a case of force majeure (unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances outside the control of the company), their journey cannot be continued or continuation of the journey could not reasonably be required the same day, the above-mentioned regulation provides that a passenger facing a delay of an hour or more may request a partial reimbursement of the price paid for the ticket (up to 50%) even if the delay is attributable to force majeure.
The Court states that the Uniform Rules relate only to the right of passengers to receive compensation for damage or loss resulting from the delay or cancellation of a train, whereas the compensation provided for by the regulation, calculated on the basis of the ticket price, has a very different purpose, which is to compensate the passenger for the consideration provided for a service which was not supplied in accordance with the transport contract. It is also a fixed-rate standard form of financial compensation, unlike that provided for under the system, which requires an individual assessment of the damage suffered. Moreover, as those two liability systems are quite different, in addition to receiving fixed rate compensation, passengers may also bring a claim for compensation under the Uniform Rules. The Court concludes, therefore, that the carrier's grounds of exemption from liability under the Uniform Rules are not applicable in the context of the liability system established by the regulation. The Court also rejects the argument that the rules relating to force majeure set out in the provisions on the rights of passengers travelling by other modes of transport, such as by plane, boat, bus and coach, are applicable by analogy. Since the different modes of transport are not interchangeable as regards the conditions of their use, the situation of undertakings operating in different transport sectors is not comparable. In those circumstances, the Court finds that a railway undertaking may not include in its general terms and conditions of carriage a clause under which it is exempt from its obligation to pay compensation in the event of a delay where the delay is attributable to force majeure.
Reacting to the ruling, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), which brings together more than 70 railway undertakings, questions “the proportionality of this decision, since other transport modes are not obliged to pay compensation for delays in cases of extraordinary circumstances”. “This new scenario clearly violates the principle of a level playing field between transport modes”, the CER says, calling on European decision-makers to ensure a more harmonised and consistent application of the principle of force majeure. (FG/transl.fl)