Railway transport is gradually redefining borders within Europe. Today, the freight sector is being opened up to European competition, and tomorrow, it will be the turn of passenger transport. The creation of these competitive markets would not however have been possible without the development of an interoperable and safe Europe.
building a Europe on rails
A liberalised Europe
The liberalisation of the European railway networks has been the subject of several European directives.
After two directives passed in 2001 and 2004 relating to the opening of the freight transport markets to competition, the European Commission decided to extend this liberalisation to passenger transport, and issued its 2007 Directive confirming that from 2010, international passenger journeys may be handled by foreign operators.
The main stages of the liberalisation process are as follows:
March 2003
Opening up of international journeys for freight services
January 2006
Start of cabotage* for freight services
2010
Opening up of international journeys and limited cabotage* for passenger services
2020
Report by the Commission on the opening up of national journeys for passenger services
*Cabotage means the permission given to convoys to make limited stopovers in the countries that they cross through.
An interoperable and safe Europe
The interoperability of the railway infrastructure means the ability of the systems and products that make up the railway infrastructure, which have known interfaces, to work with other systems and products, in particular those used in bordering countries.
It affects various aspects, including safety, signalling, track gauge, electric systems etc. and is covered by Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) which have been drawn up by the European Railways Agency (ERA) in collaboration with the other parties involved.
Milestones of interoperability
1996
Interoperability is made compulsory for high speed lines (Directive 96/48/EC)
2001
The scope of application of the rules for granting licences is extended to cover “all types of traffic", including national traffic (Directive 2001/13/EC)
However, safety certificates issued by a State are still only valid within the territory governed by that State (Directive 2001/14/EC)
The Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) apply to “the whole of the trans-European conventional railway system”, but there is wide scope for exemption (Directive 2001/16)
2004
The Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) are extended to cover the whole of the conventional system
A national safety authority is set up (Directive 2004/49)
The Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) are extended to “the whole of the conventional system” without exception (directive 2004/50)
The European Railways Agency (ERA) is created (Directive 2004/49)
2007
Introduction of a uniform European system for recognising licences and driver certificates
Find out more about all the railway directives:
European directives
