On 22 January the CER ad hoc meeting was held on the Public Consultation of EU Regulation 913/2010, which regulates the European Rail Freight Corridors.

The regulation is set for revision and the public consultation from EU Directorate General MOVE is the first public step in the process. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the input of CER members to come to a joint response to this consultation.

Freight Railway Undertakings were represented by the ECCO group managed by UIC, by ERFA and by some international representatives of RUs. ECCO stands for Efficient Cross Corridor Organisation and is the coordination body of Railway Advisory Groups for RFCs. Also represented were Infrastructure Managers, Rail Freight Corridors and industry associations UIC and ERFA.

The ECCO group, led by UIC, presented the case of RUs on how to make the Rail Freight Corridors work better for international rail freight. Principally, ECCO argued for more market orientation in the management of the RFCs, by increasing RU power in the management of the corridors and via real implementation of the many EU regulations that are supposed to lead to a Single European Railway Area. To stimulate the last point, ECCO also proposed ways to incite member states to fulfil their obligations within the several Regulations governing the SERA objectives. For example: bringing the RFCs within the Core Network Corridors.

Several concrete proposals met with approval and interest from the other representatives. The discussions were open and in-depth and well appreciated by ECCO members and UIC. The Public Consultation will end on 3 February 2020.