According to the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), the proposal of regulation on the use of railway infrastructure in the Single European Railway Area presented on 11 July from the European Commission is appreciable as regards objectives general, but needs significant improvements in order to can have a real and tangible impact on volume growth of goods transported by rail. For the association, which represents private and independent European railway companies, the Commission proposal, as drafted, would bring only minor benefits to transport services freight rail and not before 2030.

'A regulation that benefits the market only from 2030 onwards - complained the president of ERFA, Dirk Stahl - not That is acceptable. We need a pragmatic approach that aims to achieve short- and long-term goals. We believe that this is achievable.'

Among the positive aspects of the proposal, in the opinion of ERFA there are the inclusion of the "continuous planning" of the management of railway infrastructure, capacity charges multi-network transport and reciprocal commercial conditions, all measures that - the association has noted - will contribute to the growth of rail freight transport in Europe. However ERFA considers that the proposal should be improved starting from precisely from the date of implementation of the regulation: recalling that The current proposal provides that the envisaged provisions will not enter into In force before 2030, the association has highlighted that, if it is It is understandable that some aspects of the regulation will take time sufficient to be developed, others could instead be implemented immediately after the adoption of the Regulation. For ERFA, therefore, the implementation dates provided for in the Regulation should be staggered, with measures such as capacity charges, Capacity allocation methods and rights compensation for capacity changes that could be introduced as early as 2025.

In addition, according to the ERFA, they should be subject to Requests for capacity rights have also improved, in as the proposal of the EU Commission provides that managers of the infrastructure have the right to refuse requests for capacity if they do not comply with the planning of the capacity provision. The association highlighted that Such a system would not guarantee flexibility necessary for the transport of goods by rail and that, instead, There should be an obligation to offer capacity as much as possible possible aligned with the capacity request received and the refusal of requests should only take place in the absence of Available capacity. According to ERFA, they should then be Introduced instruments to ensure medium-long term reserve of capacity for the movement of goods on main corridors.

ERFA also denounced that the regulation lacks the identification of a neutral supervisory body and is not nor do you have any role for users in the processes Decision-making.

"It is essential - underlined the secretary General of ERFA, Conor Feighan - that work on this dossier Get started quickly. The Commission's proposal provides a solid base to work on. It is clear, however, that they are necessary significant improvements. We believe that the position of the ERFA clarifies the improvements needed sufficiently detailed'.