S.I. No. 780/2005 - European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) (Amendment) Regulations, 2005

S.I. No. 780 of 2005

REGULATIONS

entitled

European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) (Amendment) Regulations, 2005.

European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) (Amendment) Regulations 2005.

I, Martin Cullen, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive No. 2004/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004¹ hereby make the following Regulations:

1.       (a)        These Regulations may be cited as European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) (Amendment) Regulations 2005.

(b)        These Regulations and the European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 536 of 2003 ) shall be construed together as one and may be cited as the European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) Regulations, 2003 to 2005.

2.       The European Communities (Access to Railway Infrastructure) Regulations 2003 are amended as follows:

(a)        by substituting for the definition of “Directive” in Regulation 2 the following definition -

“ ‘Directive’ means Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991² as amended by Directive 2001/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001³ and Directive 2004/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004¹ ;”;

(b)        by substituting for paragraph (4) of Regulation 5 the following —

“(4)      Any railway undertaking shall be granted access, on equitable conditions, to the Trans-European Rail Freight Network defined in Article 10(a) and Annex I of the Directive, and from 1 January 2006 to the State's entire rail network for the purpose of operating international freight services, and from 1 January 2007 to the State's entire infrastructure for the purpose of operating all types of rail freight services.”;

(c)        by substituting for paragraph (9) of Regulation 5 the following -

“(9)      Any railway undertaking engaged in any rail transport services shall conclude agreements with the relevant Infrastructure Manager covering all necessary administrative, technical and financial matters in order to regulate traffic control and safety issues concerning the services provided by them.”;

(d)        by substituting for paragraph (10) of Regulation 5 the following -

“(10)    The terms and conditions of agreements made pursuant to paragraph (9) shall be non-discriminatory and transparent between railway undertakings or between

railway undertakings and the Infrastructure Manager as a provider of transport services.”;

(e)        by substituting for paragraph (11) of Regulation 5 the following -

“(11)    Track access to, and supply of services in, the terminals and ports linked to rail activities under these Regulations shall be provided to railway undertakings in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner, provided these railway undertakings are licensed and fulfill the necessary safety requirements.”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

The purpose of these Regulations is to give effect to Directive 2004/51/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways. The Directive requires Member States to open up the international rail freight market by 1 January 2006, and extend opening to all types of freight services in any Member State by 1 January 2007.

¹ OJ No. L.164, 30.4.04, p.164.

² OJ No. L.237, 24.8.1991, p.25.

³ OJ No. L.75, 15.3.01, p.1.

¹ OJ No. L.164, 30.4.04, p.164.