Rail Regulator welcomes European regulators to London

3 June 2004
ORR/17/04

The Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, today welcomes delegates to a meeting of European Rail Regulatory Bodies. Hosted by the Regulator and chaired by the European Commission the meeting will take the form of a workshop, taking place over two days, and will provide an opportunity for representatives of rail regulators and transport ministries across Europe to come together to share experiences and discuss matters of mutual interest.

Tom Winsor said:

“I am very much looking forward to welcoming to London, colleagues from the European Commission and European rail regulatory bodies and transport ministries. I participated in a similar event in Vienna last year and learnt much about how other European countries regulate their rail networks.

Rail regulation in Britain is ten years old.  Our European colleagues therefore look to us as a source of expertise and experience and are keen to learn from us what has gone well and, perhaps, not so well. Hosting this event in London provides an excellent opportunity for this.

Over the next two days, our programme includes presentations from the French, German and Swedish regulatory bodies as well as from Network Rail and members of my office.

I am particularly pleased that we are able to host the workshop so soon after the accession of ten new Member States to the European Union, many of whom are represented here today.”

A brief report of this meeting will be placed on the European pages of this website in due course.

Notes to editors:

The workshop will be attended by members of the European Commission’s Regulatory Bodies Working Group which was set up under the auspices of the Developing European Railways Committee (DERC) and is chaired by the European Commission.

The DERC and its working groups consider practical issues associated with the implementation of the first “infrastructure package” consisting of three rail specific European Directives - Directive 2001/12/EC (amending 91/440/EEC) consolidated covering mainly the separation of essential functions between infrastructure managers and train operators; Directive 2001/13/EC (amending 95/18/EC) consolidated which sets a common format for licences for European train operators and Directive 2001/14/EC (replacing 95/19/EC) which covers issues of capacity allocation and charging and the establishment of an independent regulatory body.

The workshop on 3 and 4 June is a closed event and will not be open to the public or press.

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