But what impact (if any) will the EU’s radical plans have on the British rail and other transport industries once the country leaves the EU – still currently scheduled for March 2019?
Like most things connected with Brexit, how the exit from the EU will affect the UK rail industry seems to be entirely unclear at the moment – particularly with the government seemingly split on key issues such as the single market and customs union. Talk of a ‘transition period’ of some description has gained more momentum since June’s general election. Louise Butcher, transport policy special- ist at the House of Commons, says: “The continued relevance of these provisions in the UK depends entirely on whether the UK negotiates some sort of EU exit agreement that includes an exemption from the market pillar.”
One of the ironies of these developments is that the EU’s plans have been partly inspired by the way the UK has managed its rail industry over the past 20 years with the franchise system that was introduced following British Rail’s privatisation in the 1990s.
The UK also already facilitates some degree of ‘open access’ competition, allow- ing firms to bid to operate rail services on the East Coast and West Coast main lines to compete with the incumbent franchise holders on those networks. For example, First Group is due to start a new service between London and Edinburgh by 2021. Interestingly, if the UK does not intro- duce the new EU competition rules on rail, it could make a potential renationalisation of the country’s rail network significantly easier – rail renationalisation being one of the resurgent Labour party’s key policies.
On a more pressing matter, Eurostar has already raised questions about the impact of the 4th Railway Package on its opera- tions after Brexit, particularly if there is “divergence between UK and EU rules”. “Under the 4th Railway Package, we expect to have a single safety certificate with a one-stop shop [through the ERA] to obtain this for our entire operation,” said Eurostar in a submission to a House of Lords committee. “If UK-registered companies were not able to obtain this certificate and/or the UK were to adopt a different approach, we would face uncertainty on the compatibility of the rules between the UK and EU, and ongoing additional costs, were there to be an additional UK-only system.” Eurostar is also concerned that its “competitiveness” could be affected if it was not able to benefit – as a UK-based company – from the introduction of the single European rail area.
While it seems as if nobody’s got a clue how the EU’s rail changes are going to affect the UK industry post-Brexit, should we expect to see a host of new train operators and services on the rails across Europe at the start of the next decade? Don’t hold your breath, as even Trans
Metropolitan’s Gossel makes it sound like a tall order, particularly given the high barriers to entry for any newcomers.
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