Scarcity charging in rail

Scarcity charging should only be applied after other mechanisms to solve conflicting path requests have failed and only on sections that have been designated as congested by the infrastructure manager. The maximum peak-time total level of the charge (so including the direct cost, the scarcity charge, and any mark-up in line with Article 32 of Directive 2012/34/EU) should not exceed what the market can bear. It may be advisable to also formulate a maximum permissible size for the scarcity surcharge, e.g. as a percentage of direct cost. The Member State should have the right to decide that the additional revenue from scarcity charging is earmarked for infrastructure investment projects aiming at relieving capacity constraints.