New passenger rail service
On 20. November 2018, the EU Commission issued Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/1795 on new rail passenger services on the basis of Directive 2012/34/EU article 11. The Commission Implementing Regulation sets requirements for the process related to starting a new rail passenger service.The required forms and other material and guidelines can be found via the links in the lower section of this page.
A notification of any new rail passenger service must be made using the standard notification form. The standard form can also be used to request an economic equilibrium test. The notifications made and the decisions of the regulatory body will be posted on the website of the regulatory body. The decisions published online will not contain information regarded as confidential.
The procedure for performing the economic equilibrium test is described in a separate memorandum. The economic equilibrium test is used to assess whether the proposed new rail passenger service compromises the economic equilibrium of the public rail service contract.
In addition, the Commission Implementing Regulation sets e.g. deadlines, as well as defining the parties with the right to make requests and the information that must accompany requests and notifications.
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An applicant must notify the regulatory body in question of the applicant’s intentions to offer new rail passenger services before it can request the right to use railway capacity from the infrastructure manager.
Such a notification must include the information specified by the Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/1795. The information must cover the first three, and if possible the first five, years of the planned operations. The information included in the standard notification form shall not be considered commercially sensitive.
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The regulatory body investigates the effect of a new passenger rail service on the economic equilibrium of a public service contract following a request made by an entity specified in article 11 (2) of Directive 2012/34/EU. The request must be made within a month of the notification concerning the new rail passenger service, as specified in article 11 (2) of the Directive amended by Directive 2016/2370.
The regulatory body processes the request within the time limits specified in article 9 of the Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/1795.
Such a request must include the information specified by the Commission Implementing Regulation. If the organisation presenting the request requests that commercially sensitive information be kept confidential, it must specify such information and the grounds for its request.
A fee based on the number of working hours required to produce the deliverable is charged for the assessment of the economic equilibrium regarding the new rail passenger transport service or the re-examination of the economic equilibrium. More detailed provisions on the payment and its amount are laid down in the Decree of the Ministry of Transport and Communications on fees charged for transport-related services provided by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (1168/2023) (available in Finnish and Swedish). In addition, any costs incurred from the above-mentioned measures that have resulted from the investigations of actors outside the Agency, will be charged.
More information
- Find out more about the principal purpose and economic equilibrium tests (PDF) Link opens in new tab
- View decisions made on the basis of the tests (in Finnish)
- View notifications of new international rail passenger services (in Finnish)
- Find out more about Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/1795 on new rail passenger services Link opens in new tab Is an external link
For further questions, please contact
E-post: fornamn.efternamn(at)kkv.fi