How to strengthen the Rail Freight Corridors?

Dear Readers,

Please see attached an ERFA position paper published today on how to strengthen the Rail Freight Corridors.

The aim is to feed into the European Commission’s on-going consultation on the need to revise the RFCs.

ERFA argues that a revision of the current legislation is necessary, even if much can be achieved within the current regulation with the right political will.

The RFCs are successfully established, but now need to deliver higher performance rail freight services to support the sector’s competitiveness

Key changes proposed:

• Strengthening the leadership of the RFCs – a neutral European coordinator to drive forward a European approach

• Specific targets for the RFCs supported by Key Performance Indicators for monitoring cost and quality

• More accountability and transparency for the RFCs: Annual strategy meetings with all key stakeholders (including end customers), where key actors are held to account

• Small funding to be available for the RFCs to achieve “quick wins”

• New approach to capacity for freight trains maintaining existing capacity, but providing more flexibility

The position paper is available below for download .