Network capacity a view from the European Commission

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Network capacity - a view from the European
Commission AGRRI Network Capacity
Seminar London, 28 November 2003 Jan
Scherp Railway Transport and Interoperability
Unit
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Summary
1 - EU transport policy objectives and rail
capacity 2 - What is capacity? 3 - What
determines rail capacity? 4 - EU regulatory
framework and its impact on capacity 5 - Future
EU policy action and capacity 6 - Issues to be
developed
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Rail infrastructure and rail transport volumein
the EU 1970-2000/2010 (est. frozen modal share)
Source European Commission
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EU transport policy objectives and rail capacity

• Rebalance modal split towards environmentally
  sustainable transport modes
• Maintain modal shares by 2010 as of 1998
• ?Increase of rail transport volumes by ca. 38
  (freight) and 24 (passengers) until 2010
• ?Need to increase capacity by about 30
• But
• Physical capacity to remain roughly constant
• Intensity of asset utilisation to rise
• Efficient use of existing infrastructure assets
  needed

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What is capacity?

• Theoretical capacity
• max. number of trains able to run on line or nod
  in given time interval
• depends on infrastructure (e.g. length of safety
  blocks) and train performance (e.g. speed)
• Practical capacity
• takes account of ability of network to absorb
  traffic distortions
• can be 60 to 95 of theoretical capacity

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What determines rail capacity?

• Network capacity is determined by
• the physical specifications of the infrastructure
• the way the infrastructure manager allocates and
  manages the capacity
• the requests and constraints introduced by the
  railway undertaking
• The interaction of these three elements decide on
  whether all capacity needs can be satisfied or
  congestion (bottlenecks) arise

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What determines rail capacity?

• On the infrastructure management side
• Choice of regularity margin to absorb effects of
  smaller disturbances
• Technical constraints through maintenance and
  infrastructure development work
• Traffic management in stations, workshops,
  shunting yards linked to the network
• Degree of optimisation of path allocation graph
  (e.g. cluster of paths with homogenuous speed)
• Traffic management ( intelligent  real time
  management of priorities)

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What determines rail capacity?

• On the railway undertakings side
• Requirements deriving from expected departure,
  arrival times basic interval timetable
  locomotive and wagon circulation plan
• Example of efficiency potential preliminary
  study results indicate that major European RU
  probably runs 15-36 more freight trains per day
  than needed (?1500 daily excess trains)
• Differences of average speed of requested paths
• Performance of rolling stock used
• Traffic degradation creates disturbances in the
  network that reduce capacity

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EU regulatory framework and its impact on capacity

• Objectives of Directive 2001/14
• Ensure efficient utilisation of the European
  network
• Foster competitiveness of international rail
  (freight) services
• International co-operation between infrastructure
  managers (RailNetEurope) facilitates use of
  network for international services
• Member States have to incentivise infrastructure
  managers to manage network efficiently (high
  efficiency potential best practice maintenance
  renewal in Europe is 30-40 lower than average
  practice)?sets free capital for infrastructure
  development

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EU regulatory framework and its impact on capacity

• The Network Statement establishes transparency
  about available capacity and access conditions
• Charging principles (e.g. marginal cost based,
  scarcity pricing, reservation chargers, discounts
  for underutilised lines, possession charges) can
  incentivise efficient use of network
• seldom implemented so far in the EU
• Performance regime between railway undertaking
  (RU) and infrastructure manager (IM) aims at
  minimising traffic disruptions
• limited experience so far
• trade off transaction costs - sophistication of
  scheme

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EU regulatory framework and its impact on capacity

• Framework agreements
• no substitute for grandfather rights no capacity
  reservation en bloc keeping capacity available
  for other RU as much as possible
• tricky definition of capacity (not specifying
  path in detail but meeting commercial needs of
  RU)
• Co-ordination process should resolve conflicting
  path requests and avoid congestion
• most efficient means of dispute resolution?
• Auctioning?

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EU regulatory framework and its impact on capacity

• Means to administer scarcity
• declaration of congestion, if path requests
  cannot be satisfied adequately
• application of priority rules
• national priority rules diverge
  strongly?performance of international services
  and capacity use suboptimal
• Means to find solutions to capacity bottlenecks
• Capacity analysis (within 6 monts)
• Capacity enhancement plan (within 6 monts)
• identifies actions based on CBA including
  calendar for implementation
• Already practical experience?

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EU regulatory framework and its impact on capacity

• IM should keep reserve capacity for ad hoc
  requests for paths
• Can appropriate reserve capacity be estimated
  sufficiently well to maximise use of network
  capacity?

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EU regulatory framework and its impact on capacity

• Implementation of Technical Specifications for
  Interoperability (Directives 96/48 and 20001/16)
  will lead to better use of capacity
• Seamless services across system borders on the
  basis of common TSI (e.g. energy, rolling stock,
  operations, telematics) could set free capacity
• Implementation of ERTMS/ETCS level 2 could lead
  to capacity enhancement of 25-30 for high speed
  and between 12 and 16 for conventional rail
  lines

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Future EU policy action and capacity

• EU network with freight priority
• optimises capacity use through separation of slow
  and fast traffic
• Idea launched by Commission in January 2002
• Commission proposed increase EU funding for
  investments in freight priority network (rejected
  by Council)
• Politically problematic (passengers have
  priority)
• First step freight priority corridors
  (Betuwelijn, Athus-Meuse line, Rhine corridor
  Cologne-Frankfort available for freight through
  new HSL)
• Second step link corridors and develop network

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Future EU policy action and capacity

• Draft Regulations on compensation schemes for
  rail freight quality and passenger rights
• To be proposed beginning 2004
• Incentivise RU to optimise production process to
  reduce delays
• Higher service quality means less distortions of
  the network and thus higher capacity

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Future EU policy action and capacity

• EU policy on wagon noise
• National legislation imposes restrictions on
  noisy train circulation (e.g. night ban for
  freight trains in NL)
• Concerted approach needed to ensure best possible
  use of network capacity
• Noise Directive 2002/49 stipulates that Member
  States develop noise abatement plans
• TSI noise emissions aims at abating noise at
  the source

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Issues to be researched and developed

• Developing methodologies for integrated capacity
  analyses and capacity enhancement plans in case
  of congested infrastructure
• Design of cost effective scarcity charges,
  performance regime
• Developing integrated, mutually reinforcing
  system of efficient allocation rules and charging
  scheme
• Priority rules for allocation and traffic
  management suitable for traffic on international
  corridors
• Development of EU freight priority network

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For further information Site http//europa.eu.i
nt/comm/dgs/energy_transport/index_en.html