Charges for Stations
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Charges for stations Network Statement 2022 Bane NOR Charges for stations Charges for stations Contents 1. Background .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Legal basis ...................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Stations ................................................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Breakdown of station services ...................................................................................................... 2 2.1.1 Minimum access package ....................................................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Station services ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.3 Commercial services ............................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Breakdown of stations ................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Single-user and multi-user stations ........................................................................................ 3 2.2.2 Station services ....................................................................................................................... 4 2.2.3 Charging system ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Cost overview ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.3.1 Operation and maintenance, digitisation and customer information ................................... 5 2.3.2 Capital costs and reasonable profits ...................................................................................... 6 3. Results ................................................................................................................................................. 7 4. Implementation and recommendations ............................................................................................. 8 5. Charge change mechanisms ................................................................................................................ 9 6. Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Annex 1 – Breakdown of stations included in each package ................................................................ 10 Annex 2 – Overview of traffic packages ................................................................................................ 13 1 Bane NOR Charges for stations 1. Background Bane NOR conducted a project in 2020 concerning charges for station services. This report comprises the data basis, outcomes and general assessments made as part of this work. Systematic charging for station services was first introduced on 01/01/2018. A “Service Directory” with associated charges was also prepared at the time. The Service Directory stated that the cost calculations would be updated at least every four years. This is the background to Bane NOR’s current review of the charges for station services. The charges addressed in this report will apply from 1 January 2022. 1.1 Legal basis Passenger stations are railway services pursuant to Section 4-2, letter a) of the Norwegian Railway Regulations. The provider of this service shall be obliged to provide the service to all railway undertakings on non-discriminatory terms. It follows from Section 6-9(2) of the Norwegian Railway Regulations that “The fee imposed for track access in service facilities as mentioned in Section 4-2 and to perform services in such facilities shall not exceed the cost of providing such services plus a reasonable mark-up for profit.” It is up to Bane NOR whether or not to charge for passenger station services and how much to charge, as long as the maximum charge limitations set out in Section 6-9(2) of the Norwegian Railway Regulations are complied with. In addition, it is important that the service charge is designed in such a way that it does not violate the requirement set down in Section 4-2 of the Norwegian Railway Regulations that the service must be provided to all railway undertakings on non-discriminatory terms. It is important to differentiate the passenger station service pursuant to Section 4-2, letter a) from the minimum access package pursuant to Section 4-1 of the Norwegian Railway Regulations and services that fall outside of the Railway Regulations (commercial services). The minimum access package is subject to special charge adjustments pursuant to Sections 6-2 to 6-5 of the Norwegian Railway Regulations, while commercial services can be charged at market rates. 2. Stations 2.1 Breakdown of station services As mentioned in Item 1.1, it is important to differentiate between station services, the minimum access package and commercial services. The illustration below shows how, in the opinion of Bane NOR, the boundaries are drawn between station services and the minimum access package. 2 Bane NOR Charges for stations Figure 1: Breakdown between the minimum access package and station services The illustration has been prepared by other European infrastructure managers. 2.1.1 Minimum access package Access services at stations are linked to the minimum access package and are not additionally charged through station services. For an illustration of what is included in the minimum access package, see Figure 1, where the contents of the minimum access package are highlighted in red. Access services include costs associated with wear-related renewal and maintenance of passenger platforms for disembarkation and embarkation, access roads for passengers and safety and technical equipment at stations associated with the operation of the railway infrastructure. These costs are kept outside of the calculation of charges for station services. 2.1.2 Station services Station services consist of waiting rooms/platform shelters, communication of travel information, suitable premises for ticket sales, etc. Only station areas that are used by passengers are included in the costs. 2.1.3 Commercial services Bane NOR offers some services to railway undertakings and passengers at market terms, including parking at stations. These fall outside of what is defined as station services pursuant to Section 4-2 a of the Norwegian Railway Regulations and are therefore not addressed further in this report. 2.2 Breakdown of stations 2.1.1 Single-user and multi-user stations The railway network consists of stations that are used only by a single railway undertaking (hereinafter referred to as single-user stations) and stations used by multiple railway undertakings 3 Bane NOR Charges for stations (multi-user stations). Nearly all stations used to be single-user stations as VY1 ran almost all passenger trains in Norway. In 2019, the first traffic package was introduced, allowing for competition within passenger traffic in the railways. Going forward, additional packages will be added and the number of railway undertakings will likely continue to increase. This means that the number of stations at which multiple operators stop will increase. In 2020, there was a total of 334 stations2. After SJ Norge has started operating on the Dovre Line and more traffic packages are announced, there could be a total of 37 multi-user stations and 297 single-user stations. Bane NOR has therefore elected to operate with 37 multi-user stations and 297 single-user stations3. 2.2.2 Station services Bane NOR determines which individual elements to include in the station services, as well as service quality and standards. The railway undertakings may report needs and desires concerning service content but Bane NOR will decide on their own independent basis which requests to accommodate. Railway undertakings cannot make reservations against individual elements included in the station service. This is in accordance with the same principle used when the charging system for stations was introduced in 2018. Bane NOR has investigated the possibility of changing this model and making some aspects of the station service optional. Following a thorough review, it is clear that most services associated with stations are necessary, either for reasons of security or due to statutory considerations. It will therefore not be appropriate to separate out any aspects of the service other than commercial services in an optional package. 2.2.3 Charging system The charges associated with the station must reflect the costs plus a mark-up for reasonable profits. An alternative could be to set the charge as equal to the cost for each station, but this would have resulted in somewhere in the region of 334 unique charges. The reason why Bane NOR chooses not to do this is that this would result in an extremely high difference in charges between stations. Additionally, Bane NOR uses cost data for 20194 when calculating the charges. Since there may be differences from year to year, it is more appropriate to apply portfolio charges. The charge for each portfolio group will then correspond to the average charge for the group concerned. 2.2.3.1 Portfolio charges Single-user stations