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Title: Directive 2012/34/EU Establishing a single European railway area

Language: English

Type: Document

Nature: Laws and Regulations

Published: January 1, 2012

Region: Europe and Central Asia (ECA)

Country: Global / Non-Specific

Sector: Transportation

Keywords: PPPs by Sector *, PPPs for Transport **, Rail

Document Link(s):

Document(s):

Document Summary:

European Union (EU) - Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area (recast) (English, French and Spanish)

The Directive entered into force 15 December 2012 and needs to be transposed until 16 June 2015. It establishes a mandated track access regime for third-party railway operators.

Document Details:

Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area (recast) - available in different European Union languages. The Directive entered into force 15 December 2012 and needs to be transposed until 16 June 2015. It establishes a mandated track access regime for third-party railway operators.

  • Infrastructure managers are required to grant non-discriminatory access to railway undertakings (and other possible applicants listed in the Directive) operating on the European railway network.
  • The principle of open access applies to the use of railway infrastructure for domestic and international rail services.
  • Member states may exclude specific network and services from the mandated track access regime, such as local and regional stand-alone networks, networks intended for the operation of urban or suburban passenger rail services only, or infrastructure whose track gauge is different from the main rail network within the EU.
  • The core provisions of the Directive set out the requirements and procedures for the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and methods for the calculation and collection of infrastructure charges.

EU Directive 2012/34/EU has consolidated and replaced Directives 91/440/EEC, 95/18/EC and 2001/14/EC as amended by Directives 2004/51/EC and Directive 2007/58/EC. All EU Directives and latest versions are available on the website of EUR-Lex.

For more information on track access regimes see Railways: Track Access and Haulage. 

Related Information: 

Track Access Laws and Regulations

Railways PPPs

Tracking Reference:

Europe_Directiva 2012-34-EU on Track Access Regime_ES.pdf

Europe_Directive 2012-34-EU on Track Access Regime_EN.pdf

Europe_Directive 2012-34-EU on Track Access Regime_FR.pdf

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