Freight trains to roam free...
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• In seven years' time freight operators will be able to run freight trains across the entire rail network of the European Union.
This fellows approval for a new package of EU railway directives in Brussels last month.
By next year rail and combined freight operators are expected to gain the right to run services on key rail routes crossing the Continent. The European Flail Freight Network, as it is known, covers all EU territories except for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Greece.
Under the new legislation, charges by railway Infrastructure operators should be set on a "marOnal cost" basis, allowing mark-ups only where "charges were set in a transparent and non-discriminatory mariner and the competitiveness of international freight transport was guaranteed".
The package also ensures separation of powers within the EU railway industry, ensuring that the management of the networks is split from that of national train operators, to prevent discrimination against foreign rail organisations.
Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio says: "The creation of a European railway system will revitalise rail transport, which must once again become a competitive transport mode and offer a real alternative to road transport."