Regulation (EU) 1371/2007 (‘’the Regulation’’) aims at ensuring high quality rail services for the benefit of passengers, granting them significant rights on the same line as other modes of transport. The Regulation builds on the existing ‘’Uniform Rules concerning the Contract for International Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Rail (CIV)’’ and extends its scope to domestic rail passenger services.

According to the European Commission, several factors have been hampering the implementation of the Regulation’s original objectives – the extensive use of exemptions at national level has notably constituted a major hindrance to the uniform application of the Regulation.

On 27th September 2017, the European Commission published its proposal for a recast of Regulation (EU) 1371/2007 ‘’on rail passengers’ rights and obligations’’ (hereinafter: the Recast Regulation).

With this proposal, the Commission aims at tackling various aspects of the Regulation, by providing amendments for what concerns matters such as the availability/accessibility of information; passengers’ rights in situations of delays, missed connections or train cancellation; complaints-handling procedure; the assistance to people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility (‘’PRM’’); and measures to ensure the enforcement of those rules.

Accordingly, several provisions of the new proposal target station managers and infrastructure managers (‘’IMs’’) by extending to them – beyond railway undertakings (‘’RUs’’) – some of the original obligations of Regulation 1371/2007, or creating new ones.
The European Commission has invited all interested/concerned stakeholders to express their views on the draft text of the recast Regulation – in the form of a 4000-characters feedback – by 22nd November 2017.

EIM welcomes the initiative of the Commission to review the Regulation, tackling some of the hurdles to its smooth implementation in the best interests of rail passengers. With this Position Paper, EIM and its Members wish to present their position on the recast regulation in a comprehensive way, highlighting to the European Union’s Institutions and all interested stakeholders what are the main concerns, risks and expectations for station managers and infrastructure managers.