Hungary in the European rail network for competitive freight
In 2010 the European Parliament and the Council laid down rules for the establishment of a European rail network for competitive freight, consisting of international freight corridors.
The aim is to achieve reliable and good quality railway freight services to be able to compete with other modes of transport.
The main objective to initiate Regulation 913/2010/EU (hereinafter: “the Regulation”) was to improve the services provided by the infrastructure managers (hereinafter: „IMs”) to international freight operators.
Through the Regulation the European Union would like to act in the following main areas corresponding to the process of harmonization:
· improving coordination among IMs,
· improving the conditions of access to infrastructure,
· improving the quality of services,
· guaranteeing freight trains’ adequate priority,
· and improving intermodality along the corridors, etc.
In order to reach these goals, the European Union designated 9 international rail freight corridors (RFC) in the EU rail network. Hungary is affected by two RFCs:
On 8th November 2013 RFC 7 (Orient Corridor) started its operation including seven countries through the following route: Prague-Vienna/Bratislava-Budapest — Vidin-Sofia-Thessaloniki-Athens — Bucharest-Constanta.
Information and coordination role (management of pre-arranged paths and reserve capacity) belongs to the C-OSS manager, who in case of this Corridor has been working in VPE for 2 years from 1st May 2013.
On 10th November 2013 RFC 6 (Mediterranean Corridor) also launched its functioning, the Corridor runs across Almería-Valencia/Madrid-Zaragoza/Barcelona-Maseille -Lyon-Torino-Milano-Verona-Padova/Velence-Trieszt/Koper-Ljubljana-Budapest-Záhony.
The detailed description of the Rail Freight Corridors in which Hungary is involved are found on the following websites:
RFC7 Orient Corridor – www.rfc7.eu
RFC6 Mediterranean Corridor– http://www.railfreightcorridor6.com