EIM recognises the importance of the railway system for the economy and society as a whole. While European integration in the railway system is important to bring forward cross-border operations and develop the European Internal Market, the importance of rail traffic at national level is equally indisputable. Strategic guidance and national requirements are optional tools for aligning capacity planning with national objectives and can support modal shift, passenger service development, freight growth, military mobility, resilience, PSO planning and decarbonisation. The aim of the present document is to provide support to infrastructure managers (IMs) and Member States currently looking into their very first editions of the new concept that is strategic guidance.

Regulation 2026/1184 on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area (the Capacity Regulation)[1] also provides other tools[2] that, in many cases, will be sufficient to ensure national coherence. In order for strategic guidance to work according to the intentions of the Capacity Regulation, EIM’s analysis indicates that strategic guidance should be balanced between enabling the national authorities to provide strategic input to IMs on the one hand, and the right and need of the IM to fulfil its operational responsibilities, specifically to allocate capacity in an independent and impartial manner and to optimise the use of its infrastructure as part of its essential functions under Article 3(2f) and Article 4(2) of Directive 2012/34/EU establishing a single European railway area (the SERA Directive)[3].

[1] Regulation (EU) 2026/1184 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2026 on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area, amending Directive 2012/34/EU and repealing Regulation (EU) No 913/2010, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2026/1184/oj.

[2] For example, Article 15 requires IMs to consult with all operational stakeholders when developing the capacity strategy, capacity model and capacity supply plan.

[3] Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2012/34/oj