European environment
DB Group
Revision of the EU Directive on the certification of traction unit drivers
The European Commission is revising Directive 2007/59/EC on the certification of traction unit drivers. The objectives of the revision are to improve the mobility of traction unit drivers in cross-border transport throughout the entire rail network in the EU and to facilitate switching to other employers. The topics of standardized operating language, harmonization of training and the new structure of driving licenses and supplementary certificates will be at the forefront.
The draft legislation was to be presented gradually from the end of 2023. However, it is currently assumed that it will probably take place from the end of 2024.
The main focus of the traction unit driver’s license directive will remain the issue of the introduction of a (second) operating language across Europe, as well as the required language competence level and its impact on safety, practicality and costs. DB Group, the French state-owned railway SNCF and the International Union of Railways (UIC) have initiated a discussion at the political level as to whether and to what extent digital translation tools are a solution. The European Commission is now examining the extent to which existing language barriers can also be overcome by technical means.
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 greenhouse gas emissions due to transport. 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 European Council and the European Parliament. In view of the upcoming European elections in June 2024, the legislative procedure is not expected to be completed until 2025. The initiatives are outlined individually below.
Better coordination and management of international rail transport
The objective 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 in order to resolve capacity conflicts. The contractual conditions between infrastructure operators and train operating companies should also be more reciprocal, e.g. in relation to changes to assigned capacity rights. The draft regulation contains fundamental amendments to the existing provisions on the awarding of track capacity in EU Directive 2012/34.
Revision of the Combined Transport Directive
The European Commission’s proposal stipulates that in future only transports that incur at least 40% less in 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.
Revision of directive on dimensions and weights in road freight transport
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 supported, they can be 90 cm longer and up to 4 t heavier. The European Commission’s objective 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 crucial factor is that the proposals do not result in transport 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.
Passenger transport
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 issues (e.g. commitment to enter into contractual relationships under certain circumstances). The European Commission aims to improve access to existing sales channels and real-time data. In addition, journey continuation in the event of disruptions, among other things, is to be improved. The European Commission’s draft legislation has been postponed several times. The last submission deadline in October 2023 has also been postponed until further notice. It is expected that the European Commission will only submit its proposal in the next EU legislative term, which will begin in 2024.
DB Group is currently focusing its international sales activities even more strongly on Europe, based on the Ticketing Roadmap of the European Umbrella Association Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), which was adopted in September 2021. The agenda focuses on implementing the most important milestones by 2025 with a focus on rail and expanding them to multimodal applications by 2030. The central components include the Europe-wide implementation of the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM), a common technical interface for connecting the ticketing systems of the railway and sales sectors in Europe.
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. In addition, the European Commission has found that there are no EU regulations guaranteeing the rights of passengers who combine different means of transport. For continuous multimodal transport contracts in particular, new liability will be introduced, for example in case of a missed connection between two means of transport. For DB Group, the new multimodal passenger rights could have an impact in particular on cooperations 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.
Infrastructure
Revision of the regulation on guidelines for the development of a trans-European transport network
On December 14, 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal to revise the Regulation on guidelines for the development of a Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T network). The objective is to achieve faster completion of the multimodal TEN-T core network by 2030 and the OVERALL TEN-T network by 2050. On December 18, 2023, the European Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the proposal. This confirms the proposed new network design with the target horizons of 2030 (core network), 2040 (expanded core network) and 2050 (overall 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 and 100 km/h for freight 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 at border clearance times. The revision is expected to come into force in the first half of 2024.
