The management of rail capacity across the European Union is in dire need of changing, especially if the mission is to boost international rail freight traffic. One solution to this problem could be the Capacity Management Regulation, part of the Greening Freight Package, which could be greenlit this spring, if negotiations are successful.

Negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are expected to begin soon and will be led by the European Commission, as Swedish MEP Johan Danielsson stated in an interview with Swedish media. According to him, one of the main issues, currently, is that domestic traffic often gets prioritised over international services. The Capacity Regulation, however, “shall guarantee a minimum capacity for international freight traffic”, Danielsson stated.

Another point underlined by Danielsson is that different EU countries have different necessities when it comes to rail freight. For example, he highlighted how “Sweden has insignificant transit traffic by rail, Germany has a lot of freight traffic into the country, out of the country and through the country.” This, consequently, leads to different opinions among Member States, which makes it more difficult to make decisions welcomed by all.

The latest draft of the Capacity Management Regulation

Initially, the Capacity Management Regulation seemed to be the biggest game-changer to improve the situation concerning rail freight in the EU. The most recent draft of the regulation, however, was drafted by the EU Council in June and caused mixed reactions. Compared to the older version, the new document would give much more power to infrastructure managers, which is the opposite of what many in the industry were hoping for. In addition, the EU Council’s version of the Regulation entailed the postponement of its entry into force from 2026 to 2029, with various other deadlines shifting as a consequence.