Rail freight corridors: creating harmonised approaches and unified services for the customer

Looking back at the two years since the implementation of the first rail freight corridors, as defined under Regulation (EU) 913/2010 and as amended in the Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1316/2013, some important experiences can be observed. Six corridors have been implemented in November 2013, three more did follow on 10th November 2015, and prolongations of those corridors will be developed until 20201. The European Commission has submitted a report on the application of the Regulation (EU) 913/2010 to the European Parliament and the Council by 10 November 20152, and is considering a revision of the Regulation in 2017, taking into consideration the results of the reports presented by the Executive Boards of the so far operational corridors every two years3. Supported by CER, (Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies), and EIM (European Rail Infrastructure Managers), we, the Railway Undertakings (RUs), the Rail Freight Corridors (RFCs)4 and their related Infrastructure Managers (IMs) and Allocation Bodies (ABs), would like to give some food for thought based on our experiences at an early stage of the discussion.