Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on ‘The Fourth Railway Package – Completing the single European railway area to foster European competitiveness and growth’

The 2011 Transport White Paper unveiled a vision for establishing a Single European Railway Area (SERA) and set out the Commission's approach to ensuring the competitiveness of EU transport in the long term, while dealing with expected growth, fuel security and decarbonisation. An important aspect of the policy is to enhance the role of rail, given the difficulty of reducing oil dependence in other sectors. But this can only be achieved if rail provides efficient and attractive services, and if we eliminate regulatory and market failures, barriers to entry and burdensome administrative procedures which hamper efficiency and competitiveness.

The European rail industry generates turnover of €73bn and has 800,000 employees. Each year public authorities invest considerable sums in the rail sector. In 2009 this amounted to €20bn in government payments for public service obligations (PSOs) and €26bn in public investment for infrastructure. In most EU Member States, public payments have increased substantially, while the growth in passenger-kilometres has been more moderate. Overall passenger-kilometres increased by 4.3% between 2005 and 2010.

Substantial public sector investment, particularly in the newer EU Member States where subsidy payments more than doubled in six years, has not in itself secured equivalent increases in rail demand. This is partly due to an inability to curb operational inefficiencies caused by a lack of appropriate competitive incentives. Yet in some Member States, public funding is awarded directly without competitive tender. Efficiency gains are desperately needed to create sustainable growth and for the benefit of the public purse.

Although there have been positive developments in some markets the modal share of rail freight has decreased from 11.5% to 10.2% since 2000. Over the same period passenger rail in intra-EU transport has remained fairly constant at around 6%. The development of domestic rail market segments has been uneven among Member States, ranging from a decline of more than 10% in Hungary to a greater than 20% increase in Sweden from 2005 to 2010. This is despite the introduction of circa 6,000 track km of high-speed line over the period.

High-speed networks have gained market share over air transport, becoming the preferred passenger choice over certain routes and allowing rail to compete more efficiently on numerous routes. Over the period 2020–2035 high-speed rail is expected to have the highest growth in demand of any transport mode, providing significant growth, investment and employment opportunities, which this package aims to develop further.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)25: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:025:FIN

ESO: European railways at a junction: the Commission adopts proposals for a Fourth Railway Package http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-european-railways-at-a-junction-the-commission-adopts-proposals-for-a-fourth-railway-package/

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