RFC 5 Annual Report 2015 "The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein."
Table of Contents 1 Introduction... 3 2 RFC5 Corridor Governance...4 2.1 Executive Board...4 2.2. Mangement Board...6 2.3 RFC 5 PMO...7 2.4 Working Groups...8 2.5 The Railway Undertaking Advisory Group (RAG) and Terminal Advisory Group (TAG)...8 3 RFC 5 activities and offer...10 3.1. Preparation for making the corridor operational on 10th November 2015...10 3.2 Elaboration of basic documents for RFC 5 ( CID Books)...11 3.3. Presentation of Reserve Capacity Offer...12 3.4.Preparation of PaPs offer for TT 2016/2017...13 3.5. IT tools (PCS; TIS and CIP)...14 3.6. Train Performance Tools - KPIs...15 3.7. Inauguration Event...15 4 Cooperation with EU Institutions and Organisations... 17 4.1.RNE...17 4.2.RFCs...18 4.3.EC...18 4.4 CNC Baltic - Adriatic......19 2
1. Introduction Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight 1, further referred as the Regulation, provides for the implementation of corridors allowing freight trains to benefit from high quality routes, offering better services (in terms of punctuality and journey time) than at present. The principal guidelines specified by the Regulation focus on: establishing a Corridor One-Stop-Shop; closer cooperation and harmonization between Infrastructure Managers / Allocation Body and Member States both for the operational management of the infrastructure and for investments, in particular by putting in place a governance structure for each corridor; increased coordination between the network and terminals, providing the reliability of the infrastructure capacity allocated to international freight on these corridors; close cooperation with clients. Rail Freight Corridor Baltic Adriatic currently runs through 6 EU Member States: starting in the Baltic Sea ports of Świnoujście, Szczecin, Gdynia and Gdańsk in Poland going south to Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria and ends in Adriatic Sea ports of Koper, Trieste, Venice and Ravenna respectively in Slovenia and Italy. RFC Baltic - Adriatic consists of: 4825 km of railway lines, 84 terminals, 8 sea ports. 1 Published in the Official Journal of the European Union on the 20 of October 2010 L 276/ page 22. 3
2. RFC5 Corridor Governance In 2015 the Organisation structure of corridor was as follows: 2.1 Executive Board The Executive Board is composed of representatives from the Ministries responsible for transport of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. In 2015 Executive Board of RFC Baltic Adriatic consisted of representatives of 6 Member States. They were as follows: Boris Živec Ministry of Infrastructure - Slovenia; 4
Alessandro Violi Ministry of infrastructure and Transport - Italy; Reinhard Haller Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology Austria; Pavol Hartl Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development Slovakia; Jan Ilik Ministy of Transport Czech Republic, Maciej Gładyga Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction Poland. The Executive Board has supervisory role and defines general goals for RFC 5 and framework of capacity allocation. In 2015 there were four meetings of the Executive Board. The general responsibility of the Executive Board is to implement the Regulation. There were a couple of areas of Executive Board activity in 2015, mainly: Adoption of Implementation Plan; Adoption of a Framework for Capacity Allocation for TT 2017; Inauguration and Launching event; Coordination with CNC; The Executive Board cooperated with the Management Board on preparing a common report for the European Commission on the experiences from the period of the implementation of 5
the Corridor. Even though RFC Baltic Adriatic was not required yet to present to the Commission the results of the Implementation Plan under Article 22 of the Regulation, the Boards wanted to share their experiences in implementing the Corridor since 2011. The Commission will take the content of this document into account while preparing a report for the Council and the European Parliament on the basis of art. 23 of the Regulation. Then, the Commission intends to prepare a possible revision of the Regulation when it comes to some aspects. The progresses realized by the Management Board in terms of developing the Implementation Plan has been monitored and the Implementation Plan has been adopted. The Executive Board adopted a Framework for Capacity Allocation for timetable 2017. The FCA is a common version for all other operational Rail Freight Corridors in the EU in order to streamline the processes of the Prearranged Paths construction and capacity allocation across the EU. In 2015 the Executive Board collaborated with the European Coordinator of the Core Network Corridor Baltic Adriatic and his staff. It is said that RFCs are to be a railway backbone of the CNCs, therefore investments on the Corridor are discussed by means of the RFCs-CNCs cooperation. 2.2 Management Board In 2015 Management Board of RFC 5 consisted of representatives of 7 different companies from 6 Member States. It consisted of representatives of the following companies: PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. Edyta Jaszczuk Správa železniční dopravní cesty, státní organizace Anna Kodysová; Železnice Slovenskej republiky, ŽSR - Miroslav Matúšek; 6
ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG Diana Gasanova; RFI Rete Ferroviaria Italiana S.p.A. Stefano Castro; SŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o. Bojan Kekec, Javna agencija za železniški promet Republike Slovenije Benjamin Steinbacher Pušnjak In 2015 the Management Board met six times. The meetings were chaired by Mrs Diana Gasanova. The main activity of the Management Board was the establishment and making RFC5 operational on 10 November 2015. From the 1 st January 2016, Javna agencija za železniški promet Republike Slovenije does not participate in RFC5 activities due to transferring its task in this field to SŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o. 2.3 RFC 5 PMO RFC 5 Project Management Office is composed of Director and two Managers i.e. Railway Infrastructure Manager and C-OSS Manager. At the same time, within the PMO, the Corridor One Stop Shop (C-OSS) as dedicated model has been appointed. They were: 7
Jarosław Majchrzak PMO Director Małgorzata Boczek-Kwaczyńska Railway Infrastructure Manager Stefano Quaranta - C-OSS Manager Contract for functioning of C-OSS was signed by all RFC5 IMs. C-OSS started its activities on 10th November 2015 and is the single contact point for the customers wishing to reserve the corridor s capacity. Applicants are able to request PaPs and reserve capacity via PCS system. 2.4 Working Groups In 2015 the Working Groups met regularly, working on creation of organizational conditions to make corridor operational and contributed to the Implementation Plan. The Working groups experts took part in preparation of the most important documents necessary for starting up the RFC 5 : - Transport Market Study - the most essential document describing the commercial role of the RFC5 ; - Corridor Information Document the source of technical and commercial information about the RFC5 and its offer ; - Elaboration of essential document necessary for functioning of RFC5 (Statue, Internal Rules, C-OSS Contract. 2.5 The Railway Undertaking Advisory Group (RAG) and Terminal Advisory Group (TAG) Both Advisory Groups: Railway Undertaking (RAG) and Terminal Owners and Managers (TAG), established in 2013 are advisory group for RFC 5. 8
In 2015 there was one meeting of RAG and TAG - on 10 th November 2015, during Inauguration Event of RFC 5, when the following essential issues were discussed: 1. Limited capacity of some infrastructure parameters. 2. Not discriminatory access to information/data provided by IMs. 3. Regular update of the TAG and RAG Advisory Group Members on RFC5 Website. 4. Flexible access to Path Coordination System (PCS ). 5. The need of the railway infrastructure last mile upgrade. 6. TAG and RAG Advisory Group Members internal communication. 7. To increase number of TAG and RAG Advisory Group Members. Common wish of TAG and RAG Advisory Group Members is to achieve better performance and harmonization of terms. 9
3. RFC 5 activities and offer 3.1 Preparation to make RFC 5 operational on 10th November 2015 In 2015 activities of the Management Board focused first of all on preparing the Corridor to go live on 10 th November and preparing the first offer Reserve Capacity for Timetable 2016. Among other issues this means that the Corridor Information Document for TT 2016 was elaborated and so that from the 10 November 2015 the Corridor One-Stop Shop was operational. Our aim is to boost rail freight by providing a seamless and good quality path offer along the Corridor as well as to raise the attractiveness and efficiency of rail freight compared to other modes of transport. Together with eight other Rail Freight Corridors, RFC Baltic - Adriatic is part of the European rail freight network for competitive freight created on the basis of the Regulation. The following map shows the Baltic - Adriatic at the start on November 10 th 2015. 10
The Management Board was also involved, inter alia, in: developing position towards the possible revision of the Regulation 913, establishing the Customer Information Platform, delivering the Final Report for TEN-T Funding Action 2011-EU-95090-S, the application for CEF Funding, cooperation between RFCs and between RFCs and CNCs, elaboration of the EEIG Statutes. Together with the Executive Board, the Management Board was also involved in the elaboration of the new Framework for Capacity Allocation. During the year Working Groups continued providing inputs to the Corridor activities e.g. to elaborate the Corridor Information Document. In July 2015, under the decision of European Commission, RFC5 received a grant from the Connecting Europe Facility Fund. On 26.11.2015 the Grant Agreement was signed for the action entitled "Studies and activities regarding enhancement of Baltic-Adriatic Rail Freight Corridor 5 offer", action number 2014-EU-TM-0335-S. The action is provided to last until 2020. 3.2 Elaboration of basic documents for RFC 5 ( CID Books) In 2015 Implementation Plan of the RFC 5 was elaborated by PMO staff with great support of Working Groups. On 13 April 2015 the Implementation Plan was sent for consultation to Ministries, IMs and RAG and TAG members. During the process of consultation 128 remarks were received. Majority of remarks and suggestions have been incorporated in the final version of the Implementation Plan. Some of remarks will be taken into consideration during next Transport Market Study updating process. The final version of Implementation Plan approved by the Executive Board has been placed on RFC5 web site on 10 th November 2015 as the Corridor Information Document Book 5 in the file CID. During 2015 the other 4 Books, creating Corridor Information Documents have been elaborated: Book 1 Generalities Book 2 Network Statement Excerpts Book 3 Terminal Description Book 4 Procedures for Capacity and Traffic Management 11
On 10 th November 2015 all CID Books were uploaded on RFC 5 website. Additionally Planned Temporary Capacity Restrictions for 2016 were placed on RFC5 website, when the RFC 5 started to be operational. 3.3 Presentation of Reserve Capacity Offer On November 6th, 2015 the Corridor published its first capacity offer catalogue according to Regulation (EU) 913/2010, displaying reserve capacity (RC) for timetable 2016. The RC is provided in form of PaPs that are kept available during the running timetable period for adhoc market needs, as it can be requested by Applicants up to 30 days before the train run. Being the Corridor just launched, the IMs involved in the RFC developed brand-new PaPs, each made by several sections in order to grant Applicants the highest flexibility with their capacity request. The RC offer consists of 104 PaPs sections. The offer has been developed by WG Capacity/TT/COSS under the lead of the C-OSS taking into account the TMS, the historical traffic flows along the corridor, the inputs from RAG/TAG. The RC offer has been published both in the PCS system (http://pcs-online.rne.eu) and on the Corridor website by means of a Catalogue downloadable as PDF-file. In line with Art. 14 of the Regulation these pre-arranged path products are dedicated to the corridor and protected from cancellation risk in the last 60 days before the running day. 12
3.4 Preparation of PaPs offer for TT 2016/2017 At the end of December 2015, IMs members of the RFC delivered to C-OSS the first Corridor PaPs offer for the annual timetable 2017 to be approved by MB and published in January 2016. The offer has been developed by WG Capacity/TT/COSS under the lead of the C-OSS taking into account the TMS, the historical traffic flows along the corridor, the inputs from RAG/TAG. A total of 36 daily PaPs have been provided by IMs to the C-OSS. To allow the highest degree of flexibility: - every PaP is made by several geographical sections, for a total of 396 PaPs sections; - flex PaPs have been provided by PLK, SZDC, ZSR, SZ-Infra and RFI. # PaP Sections 152 44 Fix Flex Concerning overlapping sections with Mediterranean Corridor, 4 PaPs sections have been developed by SZ-Infra with a common approach. To manage the dual governance, the General Assembly and Manager Board of the two Corridors have agreed that the common sections will be published in PCS and allocated by the COSS of Mediterranean Corridor. The Baltic-Adriatic Corridor will publish those sections for information only in the Catalogue made available on the website as a PDF file. 13
3.5 IT Tools (PCS; TIS; and CIP) PCS Path Coordination System (PCS) is a web-based application provided by RNE for the coordination of the international path requests. It is the only tool that Applicants shall use to apply for the capacity offered by the RFC. TIS The Train Information System (TIS) is a web-based application provided by RNE that supports international train management by delivering real-time train data concerning punctuality of international trains. The relevant data is obtained directly from the Infrastructure Managers systems. 14
CIP Customer Information Platform (CIP) - Intention Letter was signed by RFC 5. Basing on the Management Board decision RFC 5 joined CIP platform and started to create its geographical and information part for RFC 5. In the second half of 2015 Infrastructure Managers experts supplied specification of nodes and segments and topology data of their sections of RFC 5. The data have been uploaded into working area of CIP platform. In close cooperation with RNE the data are being adjusted and also a process of collection of information about terminals and properties has started. First of all a common approach between corridors needed to be agreed. CIP in scope of RFC5 data system will be available for customers in 2016. 3.6 Train Performance Tools - KPIs By means of a reporting tool (Oracle Business Inteligence) that queries the TIS database, RNE can provide the RFC a set of reports useful for monitoring punctuality of international freight trains along the Corridor. The WG Performance Management and Operations (PM&O) was defining the monthly reports to require and the relative train lists along with the monitoring criteria. The MB has approved under proposal of WG PM&O - 4 KPIs that shall be measured by the RFC in order to assess the operational performance of trains running over the Corridor. Namely: - Punctuality at destination - Punctuality at intermediate points as well as at origin - Undocumented delays - Total amount of minutes per delay reason Furthermore RNE WG KPIs has added a further operational KPI for internal use: - Number of trains MB set a punctuality target at destination of 70%. 15
3.7 Inauguration Event Inuaguration Event of RFC Baltic Adriatic took place in Warsaw on 10th of November 2015. Therepresenative of RFC Baltic Adriatic: Member States, Infrastructure Managers, Railway Uderatkings and Terminal owner took part in this meeting. Occasional speeches was given by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A., European Commision, Eecutive Board, Management Board and RAG Spokesman. After official part all guests were invited to listen to jazz concert. 16
4. Cooperation with EU Institutions and Organisations 4.1 RNE In 2015 the cooperation of all RFCs with RailNetEurope in a form of recurring meetings of RNE/RFC High Level Group was continued. As in previous years, this effort was aimed to develop common procedures and IT tools in order to bring closer the creation of a genuine single European railway market. A cooperation between RFCs and RNE is oriented to create an offer of a network of RFCs (see map below). At the request of RFCs RNE has developed several guidelines and projects aiming at harmonization among RFCs. At the end of 2015 also a joint motivation letter of RNE, RFCs and UIRR (International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport) concerning the Train Information System (TIS) data exchange was signed and distributed. With this letter its signatories wanted to encourage railway undertakings to allow the sharing of information gathered in TIS with terminals. 17
In 2015 there were four RNE/RFC High Level Meetings organized (attended by RNE representatives, chairpersons of Management Board and managing directors of all RFCs). 4.2 RFCs The meetings of RFC Talks (platform for cooperation of all Rail Freight Corridors) are organized in the same days as the RNE/RFC High Level Meetings. In 2015 this forum discussed among others: review of the Regulation, questions concerning CEF applications, 2015 User Satisfaction Survey, reports required from ExBo on the basis of the Regulation, cross-border interoperability challenges, the draft of Framework for Capacity Allocation, traffic management issues (which functions if any to be transferred to the RFCs), opinions about definition of a corridor train, procedure to monitor PaPs usage after the publication of a TT etc., development of CIP. The RFC Talks served also to exchange experiences e.g. on harmonization among the different C- OSSs for cross corridor dossiers (harmonization in CID Book 4 regarding overlapping sections with a discussion on usage of Network PaP), on Flex PaPs and differences of definition of the concept, on time limit for reserving RC. An important part of every RFC Talks meeting is taken by discussion held to reach a common position in relation with other bodies: the EC, CNCs (there was a discussion on cooperation model between CNCs and RFCs), Independent Regulators' Group Rail, ECCO. On 1 July for the first time a special strategic RFC Talks meeting was held in Stockholm. Participants discussed how to meet market demand and what tools should be used to offer awaited flexibility for applicants. In the second part of the meeting representatives of RFCs planned their work on a paper concerning the revision of the Regulation. 4.3 European Commission The main platform for the EC to communicate with RFCs is the SERAC Working Group on Rail Freight Corridors. In 2015 the meetings of the WG were held on 8 May and 10 December. The discussions focused on: the Implementing act of the EC on framework agreements, publication of the revised Handbook, the evaluation and revision of the Regulation, 18
the EC policy document on reduction of railway noise, short distance interoperability & language requirement, RFCs CNCs coordination model, report to the EC: structure and timeline, feedback on the allocation process for TT 2016 and use of reserve capacity for TT 2015 (in particular application of the Network PaP rule and flex PaPs), ERTMS & operational rules, results of the User Satisfaction Survey. During the first meeting of the Corridor Group in 2015 on 26 January the discussion focused on the ERTMS breakthrough initiative proposed by the European Commission. The second meeting on 23 March was used by RFCs to draw the Commission attention to RUs problems resulting from EU law (safety certificates and language requirements). The third meeting took place during TEN-T Days and in October it was announced that the Corridor Group will not continue its activities. The group leader Mr Karel Vinck noticed that a comprehensive monitoring of ERTMS deployment shall be carried out by the Core Network Corridors when the Rail Freight Corridor issues can be discussed in the meetings of the SERAC Working Group on RFCs. In 2015 RFC North Sea-Baltic took active part in two promotional events organized by the European Commission: 2015 TEN-T Days and the 2nd EU Rail Freight Day. The TEN-T Days were arranged by the EC and Latvia which held the presidency of the EU Council. In 2015 for the first time the EU Rail Freight Day was organized by the EU and RNE together. 4.4 CNC Baltic Adriatic The representatives of Baltic Adriatic RFC participated in the Forum Meetings of Core Network Corridor Baltic - Adriatic under the lead of the European Coordinator Mr. Kurt Bodewig. There were two Baltic - Adriatic Core Network Corridor Forum in 2015. During the last meeting on December 11th the forum was informed about the state of development of this Core Network Corridor and RFC Baltic - Adriatic. 19