European environment

The European Greening Transport Package

By 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from transport are to be reduced by 90% compared with 1990. To this end, on July 11, 2023, the European Commission presented a comprehensive package of measures. For rail transport, the following proposals are directly relevant: more efficient capacity management in cross-border rail transport, the revision of the directive on maximum permitted levels and weights in road freight traffic, and a proposal for the standardized calculation of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal for revision of the Combined Transport Directive was adopted in a second step on November 7, 2023. The legislative proposals of the European Commission are now being dealt with by the Council and the European Parliament. The legislative procedures are not expected to be completed until 2025. Each initiative is outlined below.

Better coordination and management of international rail transport

The target of the proposal is to create more effective capacity management on the rails, especially in terms of cross-border transport. In future, train operating companies will be able to apply for capacity via a national infrastructure operator in a more flexible way and across all networks. Socioeconomic and environmental criteria are to be applied when resolving capacity conflicts. The draft regulation contains fundamental amendments to the existing provisions on the awarding ­of track capacity in EU Directive 2012/34. The European Par­lia­ment adopted its position at first reading on March 12, 2024. On June 18, 2024, the Council adopted its general approach. The compromise negotiations between the Council and Parliament will begin in the second half of 2024.

Revision of the Combined Transport Directive

The European Commission’s proposal stipulates that in future, only modes of transport that incur at least 40% lower external costs than freight transport by road will be introduced and funded as combined transport. EU member states are to submit a national strategy framework to reduce the average costs of combined transport by 10%. Details such as the calculation of external costs and the audit of requirements using the planned digital platforms are to be defined in downstream legal acts. The European Parliament has not yet adopted a position on the dossier. The Council accepted a progress report on June 18, 2024. The procedure will continue in the second half of 2024.

Revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive for road freight traffic

The proposed directive focuses on the possibility of the cross-border use of longer and heavier commercial vehicles based on the European Modular System (EMS) or gigaliners, provided they are already approved in the member states. ­In order for emissions-free trucks to be funded, they can be 90 cm longer and up to 4 t heavier. The European Commission’s tar­get is to gradually phase out the use of heavy commercial vehicles powered by fossil fuels by 2035. However, in a transitional period up to the end of 2034, conventional combustion trucks may also be heavier and longer. The Euro­pean Parliament adopted its position at first reading on March 12, 2024, and broadly endorsed the Commission proposal. So far, only one progress report has been adopted in the Council, on June 18, 2024. The crucial factor is that the proposals do not result in transport services being re-outsourced from rail to road.

Proposal for a directive on the standardized recording and calculation of greenhouse gas emissions due to traffic

With CountEmissions EU, the European Commission aims to create a harmonized European framework for the calculation and reporting of transport-related greenhouse gases. The calculation will apply to both passenger and freight trans­port. The standardized calculation using the ISO 14083:2023 global standard is intended to provide users, consumers and companies with transparent information that makes it possible to compare emissions. The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading on April 10, 2024. The trilogue negotiations with the Council will start in the second half of 2024.

Legislative proposal for multimodal digital mobility services

The European Commission has announced a legislative proposal on multimodal digital mobility services (MDMS) to regulate data-related aspects of sales (e.g. transfer of real-­time and forecast data) and purely commercial points (e.g. commitment to enter into contractual relationships under certain circumstances). The European Commission aims to ease access to existing sales channels and real-time data. In addition, journey continuation in the event of disruptions is to be improved. The European Commission’s draft legislation has been postponed several times. It is now expected that the European Commission will not present its proposal until 2025.

Consideration of the Open Sales and Distribution Model sector standard in the TSI TA

The European Commission is currently working with the Euro­pean Railway Agency (ERA) to revise the Technical Specifications for Interoperability of Telematics Applications (TSI TA). The aim is to adopt them at the next meetings of the relevant Member States’ Committee in November 2024 or February 2025. It also sets the course for ticketing, such as defining the structure of fare data and the interface for booking and paying for international/national tickets, for which the sector has already developed a solution with the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) interface.

The European Commission has recently declared its opposition to a holistic inclusion of OSDM in the TSI TA and intends to entrust the European standardization body CEN/CENELEC with the task of developing a new standardization interface in a timely manner.

If OSDM is not included in the TSI TA, this would mean that the sector would have to deal with a new technical regulation in the future (2027 to 2028) after OSDM has been fully implemented (by 2025).

Proposals for multimodal passenger rights and to strengthen the rights of customers

On November 29, 2023, the European Commission introduced the Passenger Mobility Package. It includes, among other things, proposals for a new regulation on multimodal passenger rights and a proposal to amend the European passenger rights regulations to strengthen the rights of customers. The European Commission believes that passenger rights in the EU should be worded more clearly for both transport companies and passengers, and their implementation should be improved. Moreover, there is no EU legislation guaranteeing the rights of passengers combining different means of transport. In its proposal, the Commission now introduces a new liability, particularly for continuous multimodal transport contracts, for example in the event of loss of connections between two means of transport. The tightening of the requirements for continuous journeys could lead to such offers being restricted in the future. For DB Group, the new legislation on multimodal passenger rights could have an impact in particular on cooperation with airlines. The regulation amending the European passenger rights regulations increases the documentation requirements when concluding transport contracts and establishes a monitoring system for the fulfillment of passenger law requirements. The Council accepted a progress report on the dossier on June 18, 2024.

Revision of the Regulation on EU Guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network

On December 14, 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal for the revision of the regulation on guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T network). The target is to achieve faster completion of the multimodal TEN-T core network by 2030 and the overall TEN-T network by 2050. After a negotiation period of more than three years, the new regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 28, 2024, and entered into force on July 18, 2024. The new regulation confirms the proposed new network design with the target horizons of 2030 (core network), 2040 (expanded core network) and 2050 (entire network). In order to ensure timely completion, implementation requirements are planned for the most important cross-border sections and other specific national sections along the European transport corridors. Among other things, the agreed requirements include the introduction of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and the shutdown of Class B train protection systems, minimum line speeds of 160 km/h for passenger trains, as well as better integration of ports, airports and multimodal freight terminals into the TEN-T network. Operational requirements were adopted for rail freight transport, for example for border clearance times.