The Independent Regulators' Group - Rail (IRG-Rail), comprising rail regulatory bodies from 25 European countries, has published its Annual Report. Throughout 2014, the IRG-Rail continued sharing best practices, speaking with one voice in Brussels, and working towards a cohesive regulatory approach.
The Annual Report highlights a number of key achievements:
- supporting the European freight corridor with a checklist for regulatory bodies to monitor the development of the so-called Corridor One-Stop-Shop;
- minimizing differences in charging practices across Europe with a newly established subgroup on charging for service facilities;
- explaining concerns on several amendments (f.e. exemptions to mandatory competitive tendering of service contracts) put forward by the European Parliament on the Fourth Railway Package, which aims to harmonize the European railway market;
- harmonization of the monitoring principles amongst IRG-Rail members in order to be better able to compare available data throughout Europe by publishing the second IRG-Rail market monitoring report;
- welcoming the Italian rail regulator amongst its members.
Henk Don, 2015 Chair of the IRG-Rail: “Over the coming year the IRG-Rail will continue to push for measures to ensure that rail markets are opened up, bringing benefits in cost and service. In particular, the IRG-Rail will play an active role in discussions about the Fourth Railway Package, access to service facilities like railway stations and the ongoing improvement of the European freight corridors.”
Note to editors:
- The IRG-Rail is a network currently comprising independent rail Regulatory Bodies from twenty-five European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- For more information about the IRG-Rail, visit: www.irg-rail.eu