LAW: DAVID REWCASTLE & KEVIN BELL
THE FOURTH RAILWAY PACKAGE: DOES BRUSSELS DREAM OF UK RAIL?
Words:
David Rewcastle and
Kevin Bell
ince the golden days of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the rail pioneers of the British Empire, the influence of UK rail has, in global terms, diminished. No one would pretend that everything is rosy in the garden of UK rail. However, after a difficult 12 months (let’s not dwell on them), there are signs of a rebound for the confidence of UK rail and, in particular, the structure of UK railways.
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This is to be welcomed and would be well-deserved recognition for the many professional, competent and diligent workers on our railway. The most high profile vindication for UK rail has been the recent Brown Review, which has confirmed what most of us already knew: that a human error in calculating financial support levels for the InterCity West Coast franchise competition does not mean that franchising is broken. Less high profile, at least in the UK, but nonetheless extremely significant, are the developments at the EU. Whisper it quietly but these seem to align with the UK’s model for rail.
32 RailCONNECT The EU and Rail
The UK has been a member of the EU for decades. Much of our legislation derives from the EU and we continually agonise over our relationship with Europe. Nevertheless, as a nation we pay far more attention to developments in Westminster than to those in Brussels, no more so than in the case of rail.
This is perhaps due to the UK
being, through privatisation, at the vanguard of rail liberalisation. There is also the more practical constraint of the UK being an island nation with only the Channel Tunnel rail link as a rail connection to mainland Europe. Nevertheless, the impact of the EU on UK rail is, and will continue to be, significant. Procurement law derives from European legislation. The rules on letting rail franchises and rail concessions are subject to EU legislation. The EU has also introduced three specific ‘packages’ of rail legislation which, in our experience, many are only vaguely aware of. Another ‘package’ of rail legislation – the ‘Fourth Railway Package’ - has just been published. It seems
Since privatisation, the structure of the UK’s rail industry has been much discussed. As in other areas, the UK has frequently appeared to be out on a limb compared to the rest of the European Union. However, as the European Commission publishes the Fourth Railway Package, lawyers David Rewcastle and Kevin Bell of Dickinson Dees consider the contribution of the European Union (EU) to the railway and whether, in fact, the UK’s railway is just ahead of its time.
timely then to remind ourselves of the previous rail packages whilst briefly considering the Fourth Railway Package.
The First Railway Package The First Railway Package opened up the trans-European rail freight network through the establishment of open access for international freight. It also sought to un-bundle the management of infrastructure from passenger and freight operations and establish non- discriminatory infrastructure access charges and capacity allocation rules. The First Railway Package was recently recast to allow operators to run services across the whole of the EU on compatible track, using interoperable equipment.
The Second Railway Package The second package was designed to provide for a legally and technically integrated EU railway area. This led to the establishment of the European Railway Agency (ERA) as a steering body and the development of a common approach to safety and interoperability.
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