Rail Freight Corridor Rhine–Alpine

RHINE–ALPINE CORRIDOR FREIGHTRAIL 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Facility oftheEuropean Union Co-financed by the Connecting Europe

2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS

FACTS & FIGURES 4 VISION 5 KEY TOPICS FOREWORD 6 IN 2020 42

Many different topics were addressed by all stakeholders in RFC Rhine-Alpine during 2020 and many achievements RFC RHINE-ALPINE were accomplished. Despite challenges, IN A NUTSHELL 10 especially due to the Corona pandemic, we jointly supported the gradual improve- Learn more about the Corridor and its ment of conditions for rail freight on organisational structure. the Corridor. Here are RFC Rhine-Alpine’s focus topics for 2020, with joint infor mation from the Management Board and TRAIN PERFORMANCE Executive Board. MANAGEMENT 50

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 CHANGES TO THE OPERATIONAL PROJECTS 30 PANDEMIC 43 FRAMEWORK 50

This chapter reports on projects which POLICY DEVELOPMENTS 44 ERTMS DEVELOPMENTS 53 made significant progress or were completed during 2020. These projects are MONITORING THE RFC INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY 55 part of the Implementation Plan of RFC IMPLEMENTATION 45 Rhine-Alpine. COORDINATION WITH CUSTOMERS 55 CAPACITY OFFER 45 PROJECTS IN THE NETHERLANDS 32 TEMPORARY CAPACITY PROJECTS IN BELGIUM 32 RESTRICTIONS 46

PROJECTS IN GERMANY 33 INTERNATIONAL CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT 48 PERFORMANCE PROJECTS IN SWITZERLAND 38 REPORT 14 PROJECTS IN ITALY 40

This chapter provides information about traffic developments at borders and the modal share in the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Genoa as well as about the most recent KPIs on capacity management and operations.

MARKET DEVELOPMENT KPIs 15

OPERATIONS KPIs 18

CAPACITY MANAGEMENT KPIs 26 ANNEX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 58

Disclaimer: The sole responsibility for this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information therein.

2 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 3 FACTS & FIGURES VISION

3,900 km OF CORRIDOR LINES

6 SEA PORTS // AMSTERDAM // ANTWERP // GENOA // NORTH SEA PORT OUR VISION // ROTTERDAM // ZEEBRUGGE With its services, the Corridor facilitates cross-border rail freight transport in order to create a competitive advantage over other modes of transport. The involved Infrastructure MORE THAN 100 Managers and Allocation Body cooperate intensively to pro- TERMINALS vide better railway services for international freight transport in Europe.

By enhancing the flexibility and quality of rail freight services on the Corridor and optimising the utilisation of scarce capacity through a high level of international cooperation, we million want to foster rail freight services as a sustainable mode of 5.2 transport in Europe. Jointly, we are making the shift from PATH-KM ALLOCATED BY THE C-OSS FOR road to rail happen. TT2021

57.1 km WORLD’S LONGEST RAILWAY TUNNEL: GOTTHARD BASE TUNNEL

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A positive side effect of the decrease in the number of both IN 2020, THE freight and passenger trains was an improved performance. The overall RFC Rhine-Alpine exit punctuality (30 min thres- WORLD FACED hold) increased from 55 % to 59 % in 2020. All stakeholders in the transport chain were able to improve performance in a situation where fewer end-customer requests were orga- AN UNEXPECTED nised with existing resources and higher available capacity CHALLENGE. on rail infrastructure. The most important infrastructure development in 2020 was the completion of the infrastructure for the New Rail- The Corona pandemic had a major impact on the European way Link through the Alps (NRLA) in Switzerland, with the rail freight sector and dominated our work and private lives Ceneri Base Tunnel and final works, e. g. for high profile trans- throughout the year. We all had to adapt in a highly flexible port. The Gotthard axis is now ready for 740m trains with way to the developments of the pandemic and the restric a P400 loading gauge. Also, infrastructure in Northern Italy tions set out by governments. is being adapted accordingly. The festivities which the Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) and SBB Infrastruktur had Rail freight and intermodal transport turned out to be a very planned for the Ceneri opening in September 2020 could resilient mode of transport. All stakeholders in the trans- unfortunately only be conducted in a smaller event with few port chain did their very best to keep operations going, pro- invitees. The Transport Ministers of RFC Rhine-Alpine to tecting the health of their operational staff and shifting as gether with those of France, Austria, Slovenia, Liechtenstein much as possible to contactless operations. Rail Freight and Luxembourg as well as the EU Commissioner for Trans- Corridor Rhine-Alpine experienced almost no track closures port adopted the Locarno Declaration following the opening on account of COVID-19 infections. of the Ceneri Base Tunnel. The Declaration underlines the need for continued international cooperation on railway in- As a consequence of the reduced economic activity due to frastructure development. the COVID-19 crisis, the number of cross-border freight trains on RFC Rhine-Alpine went down considerably from Ap- The RFC Rhine-Alpine members of all boards and Working ril to June, slowly coming back to normal monthly levels by Groups grew accustomed to working online and working the end of the year. The International Contingency Manage- from home. Nevertheless, work continued as planned. The ment incident in Auggen (6 days of total closure of the Rhine main contributions of RFC Rhine-Alpine colleagues to inter- valley line in the beginning of April 2020) also impacted rail national coordination during 2020 are detailed in the chapter freight volumes. Compared to 2019, the overall number of “Key Topics in 2020”, p. 42. They include among others: cross-border freight trains in 2020 decreased by 7.4 %.

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• Capacity Bottleneck Analysis up to 2030 Furthermore, they pushed the infrastructure and ERTMS • ERTMS deployment overview and information development on RFC Rhine-Alpine. The support for the de- on ongoing developments velopment of rail freight was underlined at European level by • Implementation and use of ERTMS risk monitoring the adoption of the Berlin Declaration as part of the German with many stakeholders EU presidency. • State of play report on infrastructure works for 740m trains The Railway Undertakings Advisory Group (RAG) pointed out • Start of a feasibility study for Railway Collaborative the major challenges which the lack of capacity is posing to Decision Making (R-CDM) rail freight operations – both in service facilities and on the • Progress regarding end-to-end performance main lines along the Corridor itself and on re-routing lines. monitoring and organisation of a stakeholder This will continue to be a major issue also with increased performance workshop TCRs over the coming years and we will jointly need to find • PaP offer remained on the same level as in solutions. previous years and clarification of processes for Draft and Final Timetable This Annual Report provides an overview of the main develop- • Testing of the TCR Tool was performed, with the ments on RFC Rhine-Alpine regarding KPIs, performance, in- involvement of railway undertakings on RFC Rhine-Alpine frastructure and key topics in 2020. • Strong input via RNE Working Groups into the update of the ICM Handbook of the European We would like to thank all persons involved for their contri- Infrastructure Managers bution to improved international cooperation and infrastruc- • Digitalisation/simplification of the Corridor ture in 2020. Information Document • Intensified use of CIP and of the RFC Rhine-Alpine LinkedIn page for information on the Corridor.

The Executive Board followed the developments closely Peter Hondebrink Guus de Mol Dr. Christiane Warnecke Chairperson of the Chairperson of the Managing Director of RFC and supported them, for example in the form of intensive Executive Board Management Board Rhine-Alpine discussions in the ERTMS task force and by removing interoperability barriers (e. g. train driver language and braking performance) as well as by promoting initiatives on digital isation and quality. All Member States and the European Commission made strong financial support available to the wider economy in general and to the rail and logistics industry in particular to cover losses from the Corona pandemic.

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The Executive Board (ExB) represents the joint interests of RFC RHINE-ALPINE the Transport Ministries of all countries involved and takes landmark decisions for cooperation on the Corridor. The Ex- ecutive Board is chaired by Peter Hondebrink from the IN A NUTSHELL Dutch Transport Ministry.

The Management Board (MB) consists of high-level management representatives of the IMs/AB and is responsible for the further development of the international cooperation of the IM/AB partner organisations. The MB has set ORGANISATION up a Programme Management Office (PMO) as the permanent working organisation of the IMs. The PMO is repre- The Regulation (EU) 913/2010 concerning a European rail sented by the permanent office team and one delegate of network for competitive freight entered into force on 9 No- each IM/AB, the so-called Programme Implementation vember 2010. It defined the establishment of rail freight cor- Managers (PIM). They are responsible for the coordination ridors with the overall purpose to increase rail freight’s com- and reporting of their national project implementation to petitiveness and market share on the European freight the Corridor organisation. transport market. European Infrastructure Managers em- brace this chance for enhanced collaboration and work together in eleven corridors running all across Europe. The RFC Rhine- Alpine team The cooperation of Infrastructure Managers (IMs) and during a workshop in Luzern the Allocation Body (AB) in RFC Rhine-Alpine is organised in early March 2020. by a joint office and has the legal form of a European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG). All IMs and the AB of the Corridor countries are members or contractors of the EEIG: • ProRail (The Netherlands) • Infrabel (Belgium) • DB Netz (Germany) • SBB Infrastruktur (Switzerland) • BLS Netz (Switzerland) • TVS (Swiss Allocation Body) • RFI (Italy).

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BODIES OF RFC RHINE-ALPINE AS THEY WERE DECIDED BY MB AND The Railway Undertakings Advisory Group (RAG) and the Ter- BASED ON EU REGULATION 913/2010 minal Advisory Group (TAG) are advisory groups to the MB.

BODIES ACCORDING They serve as exchange platforms to involve railway under- EXECUTIVE BOARD – ExB TO REGULATION takings (RU), terminals and ports as well as stakeholders of STRUCTURE // Representatives of the transport ministries DECIDED BY MB the intermodal transport chain in order to discuss customer // Setting of general goals opinions and requirements for the development of RFC Rhine-Alpine from an external point of view.

RAILWAY UNDERTAKINGS/ MANAGEMENT CORRIDOR ONE-STOP-SHOP The Corridor One-Stop-Shop (C-OSS) facilitates train path TERMINAL ADVISORY BOARD – MB (C-OSS) GROUPS – RAG/TAG management for international rail freight. It is the single

// Regular meetings with railway // Infrastructure Managers (IMs) // IMs/AB appoint C-OSS point of contact allowing applicants to request and receive undertakings and terminals/ and Allocation Body (AB) // Responsible for the allocation answers regarding infrastructure capacity for internation- ports connected to the Corridor // Main decision board of Pre-arranged Paths (PaPs) and Reserve Capacity (RC) al freight trains.

TRASSE SCHWEIZ BECOMES SCHWEIZERISCHE

MANAGING DIRECTOR/EEIG/PMO TRASSENVERGABESTELLE From 1 January 2021 on, Trasse Schweiz will be a non-prof- // Joint Office of all partner organisations; incl. Programme Implementation Managers it entity under public law with a separate legal personality, at IMs (PIMs) the so called “Schweizerische Trassenvergabestelle (TVS)”. // Management of all activities for MB It is owned by the Swiss federal government, but is inde- pendently organised and it runs and keeps its own accounts. The TVS is responsible for drawing up the timetable, planning and allocating paths. In addition, it also ensures the 2 WGs for WG for 2 WGs for WG for ICM expert infrastructure performance path product coordination of group collection of the track access charges, keeps the Swiss in- and ERTMS management development works / TCR frastructure register (RINF) and publishes the investment Seven Working/Expert Groups with experts from all partner IMs/AB of the Corridor; yearly agreement on workplans plans of the Infrastructure Managers.

TVS is the legal successor of Trasse Schweiz and therefore all rights and obligations automatically pass to TVS, mean- Furthermore, the PMO monitors the goals and actions of ing that contractual relations with RFC Rhine-Alpine remain currently seven RFC Rhine-Alpine Working Groups (WG) unchanged. and Expert Groups. These groups were established to work efficiently on various topics for the improvement and support of cross-border rail freight services on the Corridor.

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This chapter provides information about traffic developments at borders and the modal share in the ports of Antwerp, PERFORMANCE Rotterdam and Genoa as well as about the most recent KPIs on capacity management and operations. The KPIs have been coordinated with external stakeholders like RUs and REPORT MoTs and are the same for all RFCs.

KPI OVERALL NUMBER OF TRAINS MARKET DEVELOPMENT PER BORDER KPIs The general evolution in 2020 for the entire Corridor, compared to 2019, was a decrease in the number of trains at all borders of 7.4 %. This chapter gives information on the development of the number of trains on RFC Rhine-Al- Whereas during the first quarter of 2020 the pine and the modal split of rail in selected decrease was limited to 4 %, it grew significantly ports. The information on the number of trains to a decrease of 13.6 % during the second and is provided by the Infrastructure Managers and third quarters. The main reason for this de- is mainly related to the border points on the crease is the COVID-19 crisis. The fourth quar- Corridor. Regarding the modal split, existing inter showed a recovery, as volumes increased by formation from different sources is compiled in 0.6 % compared to 2019. this report. The KPI Ratio of the Capacity Allocat- ed by the C-OSS and the Total Allocated Capacity BORDER CROSSINGS NL – DE can be found in the chapter “Capacity Manage- In general, at the Dutch border points, there was ment KPIs”, p. 26. a decrease in traffic of 4 % compared to 2019.

KPI OVERALL NUMBER OF TRAINS PER BORDER

Number of commercial freight trains crossing selected border points

TRAINS 60,000

40,000 Rail freight showed a high resilience in the 20,000 COVID-19 pandemic, with number of trains 0 going back to normal 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 levels at the end of 2020. BE – DE CH – IT

NL – DE DE – CH

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MONTHLY NUMBER OF TRAINS PER BORDER MODAL SPLIT IN PORTS ANTWERP Number of commercial freight trains crossing selected border points The total transshipment in the Port of Ant- TRAINS As the information is usually not available for the werp has increased steadily in recent years. previous year when the Annual Report is com- With 7.7 % the modal split of rail stayed nearly 5,000 piled, only the development up to 2019 is shown. stable compared to 2018. The drop in the 4,500 share for IWW of 2.2 % is due to the drought 4,000 ROTTERDAM and the low water level on the Rhine and was The total volume of transshipment in the Port absorbed by road. 3,500 of Rotterdam in 2019 increased by 2.0 %. As 3,000 in the previous year, the shift between com- GENOA 2,500 modities continued. The container volumes in- The rail volume handled in the Port of Genoa in creased by 2.6 % (+4.5 % in 2018) and bulk 2019 grew to over 7,000 trains, pushed by the 2,000 decreased by 0.3 % (-1.7 % in 2018). increase in port traffic and notwithstanding the 1,500 temporary closure of the main port rail yard. 1,000 In 2019 (compared to 2018) the modal share Containers shipped by rail exceeded 300,000 of inland waterways (IWW) increased by 0.4 % TEUs, reaching a modal split of 14.2 %. 500 while the share of road decreased by 1 %. The 0 share of rail traffic in 2019 increased by 0.6 % JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC compared to 2018.

BE – DE CH – IT

NL – DE DE – CH

KPI MODAL SPLIT IN PORTS 2017 – 2019

The decrease is mainly due to the COVID-19 During the first quarter of the year, the decrease Percent crisis. The good news is that, while there was in numbers was limited to 2 %. In the second and 100 7.4 7.8 7.7 a decrease of 7.5 % in the volumes during the third quarters, the decrease amounted to 14.8 %. 10.4 10.2 10.8 16.0 12.8 14.2 first 9 months, the last quarter of the year Again, the COVID-19 crisis was the main reason 90 showed an increase in the volumes of 7 % com- for this drop. Quarter 4 showed a recovery, as 80 pared to 2019. the decrease in numbers reduced to only 3.5 %. 70 December showed an increase in numbers of 54.8 56.2 58.6 BORDER CROSSING BE – DE 2.4 %, compared to December 2019. 60 56.1 57.1 56.1 In Belgium in 2020, traffic at the Montzen 50 84.0 87.2 85.8 border point decreased by 6.7 % compared to BORDER CROSSINGS CH – IT 2019. In the first quarter of the year, the vol- In Italy in 2020, the overall evolution compared 40 umes remained constant compared to the to 2019 was a decrease in traffic of 9.5 %. 30 same period in 2019. During the second and 20 37.8 36.0 33.8 third quarters, numbers fell by 13.7 %. The last During the first quarter of 2020, the decrease 33.5 32.6 33.0 quarter of the year showed a recovery, with in numbers amounted to 6.4 %. The decrease 10 the number of trains rising by 0.5 % compared grew to 15.2 % during quarters 2 and 3, show- 0 to the previous year. Obviously, the COVID-19 ing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The fourth 2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019 crisis was the main reason for the overall drop quarter exhibited a recovery, as the decrease in numbers in 2020. was limited to 1 %. Also, traffic at the Swiss-Ital- ROTTERDAM ANTWERP GENOA ian border points showed an increase of 5.5 % BORDER CROSSING DE – CH in volume in December as compared to the pre- Definition: modal split [%] of freight traffic at the Ports of Rotterdam, RAIL Compared to 2019, traffic at the Basel border vious year. Genoa and Antwerp; the modal split is calculated for hinterland container ROAD point decreased by 8.8 % in 2020. traffic on the basis of TEUs. IWW

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OPERATIONS KPIs • The punctuality development report on RFC RFC ENTRY AND EXIT PUNCTUALITY IN 2020 Rhine-Alpine lines and at relevant points and borders. This chapter gives detailed information on the level of punctual and delayed trains and To provide reliable statistics and reports, a high RFC ENTRY RFC EXIT the related delay reasons. data quality is required. Therefore, the Train 70 % 70 % Performance Management (TPM) experts of PUNCTUALITY REPORT 2020 RFC Rhine-Alpine are involved in the RNE Data 60 % 70 % (30 min) –11 % 60 % Punctuality calculation is performed using Quality project, providing valuable input to ex- 50 % 59 % (30 min) 50 % the Train Information System (TIS) data by pand a European-wide process for the identifica- comparing the timetable delivered to TIS and tion of RFC trains and properly assigning them 40 % 40 % the running time in operations at defined to the corridor(s) responsible for their TPM 62 % (15 min) measuring points. On the Customer Informa- treatment. This project is still ongoing and will 30 % 30 % 51 % (15 min) tion Platform (CIP), RFC Rhine-Alpine publish- be concluded in 2021. Another issue which af- 20 % 20 % es three reports on a monthly basis: fects data quality is the linking of trains: about 10 % of international train runs on RFC Rhine- 10 % 10 % • The punctuality development management Alpine are still not indicated in TIS because they 0 % 0 % summary, with punctuality figures, number run with national train numbers and are not of trains and distribution of delay reasons; linked to each other, for example in case of • The punctuality overview report with differ- re-routing. ent delay thresholds;

RFC ENTRY AND RFC EXIT PUNCTUALITY PER DIRECTION 2020

PUNCTUALITY DEVELOPMENT 71 % 68 % 60 % 57 % North-South South-North North-South South-North Percent 80

70 70 70 60 65 66 RFC ENTRY RFC EXIT 60 59 50 55 55

62 57 58 62 30 52 47 47 51 The RFCs agreed on considering international RFC Exit indicates the location where the train 20 rail freight trains on the Corridors as punctual exits the RFC line the last time (last point of 10 when they are not more than 30 minutes de- the train run belonging to the RFC). layed. Other international Working Groups set 0 a 15-minute threshold. For this reason, both In 2020, punctuality increased significantly (10 %) 2017 2018 2019 2020 2017 2018 2019 2020 figures are shown as an overall punctuality during the first Corona phase in April and May. RFC ENTRY RFC EXIT KPI for RFC Entry and RFC Exit. To understand This is due to a markedly lower number of pas- the graphs correctly, it is necessary to know senger and freight trains (see number of freight that RFC Entry is defined as the location trains at borders in chapter “Market develop- RFC ENTRY – 30 MIN-THRESHOLD RFC EXIT – 30 MIN-THRESHOLD where the train first enters an RFC line (first ment KPIs”, p. 15) and thus more capacity avail- RFC ENTRY – 15 MIN-THRESHOLD RFC EXIT – 15 MIN-THRESHOLD point on the train run belonging to the RFC). able on the networks. The evolution of punctuality

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MONTHLY RFC ENTRY PUNCUTALITY PER DIRECTION during the second half of 2020 clearly shows the critical trains at the RUs or in the bilateral that performance is directly influenced by availa- Working Groups. Several issues relating to bility of capacity. Towards the end of the year, structural timetable problems were tackled 85 % the number of passenger and freight trains went and passed on to the appropriate timetable de- 80 % back to normal levels and more construction partments. The efforts of the WG TPM mem- works further reduced capacity while at the same bers contributed to solving single problems by 75 % time impacting punctuality negatively (see further involving the concerned stakeholders. Howev- explanations below in this chapter on p. 22). er, the breakthrough in boosting performance 70 % on RFC Rhine-Alpine is not possible under the 65 % In the first quarter of 2020, the WG TPM ana- current framework conditions. lysed the top 10 delayed trains and addressed 60 %

55 %

50 % TOTAL NUMBER OF DELAY MINUTES REPORTED TO TIS FOR BOTH DIRECTIONS 45 %

40 % in k minutes JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 1200 1062.6 NORTH – SOUTH SOUTH – NORTH 1031.5 1000 895.5 868.3 846.2 809.9 800 694.9 MONTHLY RFC EXIT PUNCTUALITY PER DIRECTION 655.5 600 562,8 521.2 470.1 85 % 400 378.1 80 % 200 75 %

70 % 0 01/20 02/20 03/20 04/20 05/20 06/20 0 7/2 0 08/20 09/20 10/20 11/20 12/20 65 %

60 % IM delay reasons: e. g. timetable planning, dispatching errors, SUM OF DELAY MINUTES infrastructure failures, temporary capacity restrictions (as far IM 55 % as not considered in timetable), unplanned works RU / OTHERS SECONDARY 50 % RU/others’ delay reasons: e. g. train preparation, train formation EXTERNAL by RU, rostering/re-rostering, rolling stock failures, loading 45 % irregularities, RU staff. RU/others’ delay reasons also include delays caused by terminals (loading, unloading) or other parties 40 % (e. g. truck drivers) before handing the train over to the RUs. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Secondary delays: delays indirectly caused by the previous reasons, e. g. delayed circulation of another train and the resulting track NORTH – SOUTH SOUTH – NORTH occupation or conflicts within nodes. Incidents with trains/ dangerous goods are also displayed here.

External reasons: delays which are out of the influence of IMs and RUs, e. g. weather conditions, natural events, authorities.

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FACTORS AFFECTING PUNCTUALITY The largest incidents of delay on the network France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxem- After the destroyed superstructure had been IN 2020 were an irregular signal passing in Antwerp bourg, where ‘Sabine’ is known as ‘Chiara’, removed, an immediate measure was to exca- harbour, incidents involving a person and nat- were seriously impacted by the storm as well. vate around 19,000 tons of soil over an area of ural causes resulting in a total delay of 34,458 2,500 m². In the following 4 weeks the super- THE NETHERLANDS min for freight traffic. Accident in Auggen structure, 300 meters of track, four switches • Irregular signal passing in Antwerp harbour Due to the accident in Auggen in April 2020 and around two kilometres of cable according On the ProRail network, some structural prob- caused 8,203 minutes delay for freight traffic the Rhine valley line was completely interrupt- to the existing track plans were restored. Up to lems were affecting the punctuality of freight from 6 to 23 February. ed for six days. As an ICM case was declared, 250–300 people were employed on the con- trains. These are mentioned below. • There were five instances where an incident more information on this accident can be struction site to reopen the right bank of the involving a person was the cause of delay found in chapter “International Contingency Rhine for rail traffic as quickly as possible. Capacity shunting yards Waalhaven adding up to a total of 12,660 minutes. Management”, p. 48. Zuid and Kijfhoek • There were four incidents where exceptional Furthermore, several long-term construction Due to problems with the fire extinguishing weather conditions led to a delay for freight Accident in Niederlahnstein sites on RFC Rhine-Alpine affected punctuality in system at the Waalhaven Zuid shunting yard, traffic. The total number of minutes accrued On 30 August, a freight train derailed in the 2020, namely the construction of the third there is no capacity to shunt wagons, change was 13,595, caused by the storm Chiara, trees Niederlahnstein station, in the middle Rhine track on the Emmerich-Oberhausen line, the ex- traction and check the brakes at this yard. on the tracks, snow and a lightning strike. valley near Koblenz. Around 100,000 liters of pansion of the European high-speed network These processes now have to happen at an- diesel leaked from the overturned car. The rail (“ABS 4”) between Aachen and Cologne, the ex- other shunting yard in the harbour area. Most freight traffic on the right bank of the Rhine pansion of the Cologne node for local, long-dis- shunting operators/RUs have moved these GERMANY had to be stopped until 30 September 2020 tance and freight traffic and also the construc- processes to Kijfhoek so there is less capacity for clean-up and restoration. All freight traffic tion works between Karlsruhe and Basel. For available in Kijfhoek for other trains. Because Punctuality of freight traffic in general had to be carried out on the left bank of the more information on infrastructure projects, extra capacity at this yard is limited, diver- Due to the Corona crisis in 2020, railway traffic Rhine. see chapter “Infrastructure Projects”, p. 30. sions and delays are a regular occurrence. in Germany has been operating with the highest punctuality in the last 15 years. At times, up to Availability of line Maasvlakte Yangtzehaven 15 % less trains were operating on the network. Noord – Maasvlakte West As a result, more capacity was available which The line from Maasvlakte Yangtzehaven Noord was beneficial for freight traffic. (Euromax Terminal) to the Maasvlakte West yard runs through a very sandy environment Improvements in freight traffic punctuality of (dunes). If it is windy, sand can blow over the 10 % were noticed, especially during the first rails and the tracks are no longer drivable or Corona wave in spring 2020, whilst punctuali- have problems with the detection. Trains have ty in autumn dropped back to last year’s level. to wait at Maasvlakte West or stay at the Eu- romax terminal till the tracks are cleaned. Also in 2020, a significant decrease in secondary delay reasons was recorded. Especially for the Rail brakes of the hump at Kijfhoek delay reason involving the sequence of trains. Several times in 2020 there were problems However, the overall share of secondary delays with the rail brakes of the hump at the Kijfhoek remains very high at 66 % of all delay reasons. shunting station. This mainly affects single-wagon load traffic. Further drivers of delays in 2020, as in 2019, were the preparation of trains, staff and vehicle Furthermore, during the year, there were rotations (RU-related) as well as delays in rela- some minor infrastructural incidents that in- tion to construction works (IM-related). Due to fluenced freight train punctuality. intensified vegetation management, weather-related damage has continued to decline.

BELGIUM Storm Sabine (Chiara) On 10 and 11 February, Deutsche Bahn had to Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, punctuality on halt its rail services throughout Germany as the network increased in general, especially dur- storm Sabine (Chiara) wreaked havoc across ing the first pandemic phase in April and May. the country. Other parts of Europe, including Construction work on the Karlsruhe-Basel line in Haltingen.

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SWITZERLAND Furthermore, events occurred throughout the year that led to restrictions, but these only Gotthard-Axis (SBB) had a local and very limited impact on transit The punctuality values on the Gotthard axis freight traffic. were significantly above the target throughout the whole year. Even the re-routed traffic Lötschberg Axis (BLS) due to the total closure of the Simplon axis in In February and March 2020, water and sand August did not have a negative effect on punctu- were washed into the double track section of ality. the Lötschberg Base Tunnel due to geological changes (Karst springs). As a result, the tun- The biggest factors driving delays and capaci- nel’s eastern bore had to be temporarily closed ty restrictions were the many single-track three times in succession. For several days, the traffic routings as well as the total line clo- tunnel was even closed completely. As an imme- sures (construction works for the 4-metre diate remedy, BLS installed a steel sedimenta- Corridor, e. g. Bözberg Tunnel, Luino) and the tion tank in the affected area of the tunnel bore. total interruption of the Corridor due to the During these two months, capacity was re- incident in Auggen (Germany) in April and the stricted and several trains had to be rerouted associated limited capacity on the re-routing via the Lötschberg mountain line with conse- line via Singen – Schaffhausen. quences on operations and punctuality of traffic.

The Lötschberg Base Tunnel clean-up was After the incident in the Lötschberg Tunnel the soil and walls of the cavern done in three process steps. were reinforced. More information can be found on the BLS Website.

ITALY RUs and accepted by RFI. In particular, the RFI decision to increase in train compositions and On the RFI network, there were several events towed mass over 1,600 tons has generated impacting Corridor traffic that influenced the some limitations on circulation due to energy punctuality of freight trains. In particular: absorption on some lines (e. g. min. 30 minutes between two trains on the Luino line). Conse- • Single track circulation (14 – 26 September quently, certain train routes are mandatory, 2020) between Sesto Calende and Somma especially in the presence of side-by-side lines. Lombardo for gauge works. • Interruption on the Arona–Domodossola Snowfall in the last period of the year has had a line from 16 August to 6 September with negative impact on punctuality, and not only in slowdowns until 11 September. Italy. The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive • Closure of the Domodossola/Domo II effect on freight train punctuality during times stations for about a month between when passenger train traffic was down. There August and September. was no significant reduction in the volumes of • Interruption in December of the Luino– goods transported, especially on the Luino line. Laveno and Gallarate–Laveno via Ternate sections due to PC80 gauge works. Further explanations on train performance issues are provided in chapter “Train Perfor- Some difficulties arose from the adaptation of mance Management”, p. 50. traffic regulations answering to requests by the

24 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 25 CONTENTS OF TABLE PERFORMANCE REPORT PERFORMANCE REPORT

CAPACITY VOLUME OF OFFERED, REQUESTED AND PRE-ALLOCATED CAPACITY MANAGEMENT KPIs This KPI shows the volume of PaPs in the phases of PaP publication (X-11), PaP

requesting (X-8) and PaP pre-allocation TT 2021 17.6 M km (X-7.5) in million path-km per year. PaP Capacity Offer (X-11) This chapter provides information on the de- PAP SALES PROCESS velopment of the Pre-arranged Paths (PaPs) and Reserve Capacity (RC) offered by RFC 5.2 M km Rhine-Alpine. X – 16 PaP Capacity Requests (X-8)

Start of PaP TT 2020 17.2 M km PaP Capacity Offer (X-11) 4.2 M km KPI Volume of Offered, Requested and construction PaP Capacity Pre-allocated (X-7.5) Pre-allocated Capacity

This KPI shows the development of offered, re- AUGUST – 12 1.0 M km X Tailor-made quested and pre-allocated PaPs for the 2016 – End of PaP 7. 9 M km PaP Capacity Requests (X-8) 2021 timetable (TT). Generally, the offered construction PaPs are planned for operation on seven days a 5.6 M km week, yet some connections might have a lower X – 11 DECEMBER PaP Capacity Pre-allocated (X-7.5) availability (e. g. 4 or 5 running days), or a given Publication of PaPs in PCS 2.3 M km PaP might not be available on some days Tailor-made 17.6 M km throughout the year due to TCR. For TT2021, T T 2019 – 8 PaP Capacity Offer (X-11) the volume of requested capacity (PaPs) de- JANUARY X Deadline for creased compared to previous years. 30 % of PaP Application the offered capacity were requested for 7. 4 M km TT2021. Due to conflicts between some re- PaP Capacity Requests (X-8) – 7.5 APRIL quests, it was only possible to assign 82 % of X TT 2018 21.8 M km 6.4 M km Pre-allocation PaP Capacity Offer (X-11) the requested capacity as PaPs. The remaining of PaPs in PaP Capacity Pre-allocated (X-7.5) 18 % were answered with tailor-made paths. In PCS addition to the requests for PaPs, a high amount 1.0 M km 2nd HALF X– 5 Tailor-made of connected feeder and outflow paths was re- OF APRIL 6.5 M km Draft PaP Capacity Requests (X-8) quested and allocated. Timetable Offer 5.0 M km One reason for the reduction in PaP requests X – 4 JULY PaP Capacity Pre-allocated (X-7.5) was the circumstance that, for TT2021, an inter- Final modal operator largely tendered new contracts Timetable 1.5 M km Offer Tailor-made 22.5 M km with paths, for which the PaP offer did not seem T T 2017 PaP Capacity Offer (X-11) to fit well. Customers then needed to request ac- AUGUST cording to their operational needs for the new contracts. For TT2021, no special COGIS paths 9.0 M km were offered by several IMs and published by the PaP Capacity Requests (X-8) C-OSS, but harmonised paths for the Mann- KPI Volume of Requests including Number TT 2016 26.5 M km 6.5 M km heim-Switzerland-Italy route were discussed by of Conflicts at X-8 PaP Capacity Offer (X-11) PaP Capacity Pre-allocated (X-7.5) the IMs and RUs concerned. These running times This KPI shows the number of conflicting and were requested via national tools. Despite the de- clean requests (i. e. dossiers) made by the appli- 2.5 M km Tailor-made crease of PaP requests, the feedback from cus- cants in the Path Coordination System (PCS). 11.2 M km tomers showed no systematic change from PaP The lower number of requested dossiers for PaP Capacity Requests (X-8) requests to requests via national systems. TT2021 is related both to the lower amount of 8.8 M km requested capacity described above and to the PaP Capacity Pre-allocated (X-7.5) A reserve capacity of 1.8 million path-km was of- newly introduced PCS envelope concept, which fered for TT2020. As in previous years, no re- enables applicants to link related requests in 2.4 M km quests were received. For TT2021, the offer re- one dossier. This also resulted in fewer conflicts Tailor-made mains on the same level. between PaP requests. Conflicting requests

26 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 27 CONTENTS OF TABLE PERFORMANCE REPORT PERFORMANCE REPORT

KPI VOLUME OF REQUESTS INCLUDING KPI Average Planned Speed of PaPs KPI AVERAGE PLANNED SPEED OF PAPs FOR TT2022 NUMBER OF CONFLICTS AT X-8 The KPI Average Planned Speed shows the planned commercial speed of the PaPs on Corri- This KPI shows the average of the planned commercial speed of the PaPs in km/h for selected connections Percent dor sections with pre-defined origins and destinations, selected for Long PaPs, Short PaPs as well 250 218 as for subsections on RFC Rhine-Alpine. 200 155 134 146 For TT2022, we have defined new sections (O/Ds) 70.8 km/h 44.7 km/h 40.4 km/h 150 126 75 in order to achieve better comparability in the fu- 65 40 88 100 ture and to cover all major Corridor sections. Fur- 34 50 BASEL SBB RB 84 81 86 80 thermore, we adapted the calculation method for (VIA BRIG) 54 228,1 km Y. SCHIJN 0 the KPI Average Planned Speed and included all TT 2016 TT 2017 TT 2018 TT 2019 TT 2021 stopping times at borders and other stations. This DORSFELD MAASVLAKTE CLEAN IN CONFLICT could lead to a lower value compared to previous OBERHAUSEN 339.5 km years. The number of PaPs used to calculate the STERKRADE 211,3 km This KPI shows the number of conflicting and clean average speed are shown. The PaPs running on NOVARA B. TO dossiers (multiple path requests placed in PCS which the respective O/D have to cover the whole sec- referred to the same PaP on RFC Rhine-Alpine). tion to be included into the calculation. AVERAGE SPEED OF 20 PAPs AVERAGE SPEED OF 17 PAPs AVERAGE SPEED OF 4 PAPs At some borders, a longer stopping time is caused relate especially to path sections in the south- by e. g. customs handling or the applicants’ desired ern part of the RFC through Switzerland. How- change of operation. This leads to a lower average ever, the IMs were able to make alternative speed than at borders without dwelling time. The km/h km/h km/h (tailor-made) path offers for all applicants that selected O/Ds serve as examples. Further con- 61.5 52.2 55.2 MAASVLAKTE could not receive a PaP. nected O/Ds would show hardly any difference re- TROISDORF garding planned speed (e. g. Amsterdam instead of KARLSRUHE GBF KPI Ratio of the Capacity Allocated by the Maasvlakte). C-OSS and the Total Allocated Capacity 509.0 km 1,148.3 km The KPI Ratio of the capacity allocated by the 519.4 km C-OSS is calculated with data provided by the IMs

and the C-OSS of RFC Rhine-Alpine, both after KPI RATIO OF CAPACITY ALLOCATED BY C-OSS BASEL SBB RB the finalisation of the allocation process. At every GALLARATE border of the Corridor, the number of crossing Percent MILANO SM trains, which have been allocated via PaPs in PCS 30 (including feeder/outflow and tailor-made paths), 26.1 AVERAGE SPEED OF 20 PAPs AVERAGE SPEED OF 10 PAPs AVERAGE SPEED OF 10 PAPs 25 is compared to the number of international 22.0 19.1 freight trains, which were requested via PCS or 20 17.9 18.3 18.8 national systems and allocated by the IMs along 15 13.8 13.5 the Corridor. Regarding the allocation status, Ba- 12.0 12.0 12.8 50.1 km/h 49.2 km/h 58.5 km/h sel has the highest number of allocated trains in 10 8.5 Y.SCHIJN the annual timetable on RFC Rhine-Alpine in abso- 5 BASEL SBB RB BASEL SBB RB lute numbers, followed by Emmerich, Chiasso and 0 Aachen/Montzen. In total, the highest number of Emmerich Aachen Basel Domo II Luino Chiasso border West Grenze Sm. allocated trains in the annual TT is concentrated 1,092.9 km 330.3 km 274.0 km in the southern part of the Corridor. The comple- ALLOCATION RATIO TT2020 tion of the NRLA led to higher traffic numbers on ALLOCATION RATIO TT2021 the Gotthard axis as traffic shifts from the

Lötschberg axis. Since the PaP offer stayed con- MIL ANO CHIASSO SM This KPI shows the ratio of trains which were allocated SM MILANO SM stant in TT2021, the ratio of international freight by the C-OSS as PaPs compared to trains which were trains allocated by the C-OSS dropped according- requested via PCS or national systems and allocated ly in Chiasso and increased in Domo II. by the IMs. AVERAGE SPEED OF 6 PAPs AVERAGE SPEED OF 24 PAPs AVERAGE SPEED OF 17 PAPs

28 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 29 CONTENTS OF TABLE 30 PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE 30 ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC Alps was completed. was Alps the through Link Railway the New construction, of opened. Tunnel was Base Ceneri the 2020, In After 27 years 27 years After

OVERVIEW MAP ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC RFC RHINE-ALPINE RFC ONPROJECTS ZEEBRUGGE SWITZERLAND 14 11 16 13 12 15 Bellinzona – Luino upgrade – Luino Bellinzona – Aarau Olten Quadrupling Basel RB Improvement Tunnel Base Lötschberg of Upgrade Corridor 4-metre Opening Base Ceneri Tunnel 4 ROTTERDAM BELGIUM 6 5 4 VLISSINGEN ANTWERP GHENT ETCS in Belgium in ETCS network Belgian the on 740m trains long connections hinterland its and Zeebrugge of Port AMSTERDAM 5 ITALY 20 19 18 17 Domodossola –Domodossola Novara line Chiasso of interlocking and node line and Milano Chiasso of gauge Loading line Luino of gauge Loading Technological line Chiasso upgrade

GENK 3 6 LIEGE

1 2 THE NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS THE EMMERICH 3 2 1 8 Amsterdam Aziëhavenweg rail yard rail Aziëhavenweg Amsterdam Venlo Terminal TPN Rail new in track Geldermalsen new overtaking FREIBURG LUDWIGSHAFEN MANNHEIM BERN DUISBURG OBERHAUSEN NEUSS BASEL COLOGNE KARLSRUHE 14 13 10 NOVARA 10 9 15 12 9 20 7 MAINZ WIESBADEN 12 18 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE ZURICH 12 11 GENOA 16 GERMANY 10 17 19 9 8 7 MILAN RFC Rhine-Alpine RFC on Germany in ETCS –Basel Karlsruhe Oberhausen – Emmerich ABS/NBS Rhine/Neckar Rhine/Main and PIACENZA

TABLE OF CONTENTS 32 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE date 740mdate is Commissioning long trains. accommo to able be will 2020. Two tracks in 2019, continued February in started which Zeebrugge, at yard marshalling existing the in sidings of fan anew of construction The IN BELGIUMPROJECTS 2024. around use into come will track new The Area. Port Amsterdam the in yard rail Aziëhavenweg the in track ture arrival/depar one of additional construction and design the on made was 2020, astart In line. hoven-Venlo 2019 in opened Eind was the on which yard, Gekkengraaf the to connected is terminal rail new 2020. The autumn in use into put was day, per 12 to up of trains acapacity with Venlo, Noord Trade at Port terminal rail The Geldermalsen” project. ronment Envi “Rail the of part are modifications The 2019. in lifted was direction northern the in restriction length The lifted. been has tion direc in southern the sterdam/Amersfoort Am from trains freight for limitation length 2020,in in Geldermalsen September the track overtaking new the of opening the With NETHERLANDS IN THEPROJECTS Implementation the Plan of RFC of Rhine-Alpine. part are during completed 2020. or were progress projects These which made significant on projects reports This chapter 2 1 4 3 NEW RAIL TERMINAL TPN VENLO TPN TERMINAL RAIL NEW GELDERMALSEN IN TRACK OVERTAKING NEW ITRAD CONNECTIONS HINTERLAND ITS AND ZEEBRUGGE OF PORT RAIL YARD AMSTERDAM AZIËHAVENWEG

------Houtrakpolder to Duisburg. to Houtrakpolder Amsterdam from train Samskip kamp were finished at the end of the year. the of end the at finished were kamp Oost in works construction 2020. The in ued and also contin Brugge Gent between track fourth and a third of construction the on Work 2021. for scheduled is construction of start the 2020; in finalised were track third the of part northern the of studies 2020. The November in finished was Dudzele at bifurcation the of renewal the of phase first the of execution the Dudzele, and Brugge between track third Regarding the in 2020.and December commissioned 2020 in finished was Ramskapelle of siding the of part northern in signalling the tomatic au of introduction 2022. The for forecasted ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC - - -

OVERVIEW MAP ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC (14 2025). December TT2026 from mandatory become will ETCS 2025. by equipped being network whole the aim the of with continued deployment ETCS 2022. May for scheduled is sioning 2020. Commis in continued 740m trains, long receive to able tracks two create will which sidings, Gent-Zeehaven the of construction The any restrictions. without long trains 740m of running the allow to essential are investments where Network) (TEN-T Core corridors freight the on locations the fy identi to 740m” project tracks “side specific a start to decided was 2020, it December In ongoing. are Hasselt and Testelt for studies feasibility the as well as Lokeren and in Dendermonde sites identified the of studies detailed the region, in Flemish the long trains 740m accommodate to needed are tracks side additional where locations the garding 2019 in finalised re astudy of context the In 6 5 BELGIAN NETWORKBELGIAN ETCS IN BELGIUM ETCS 740 m LONG TRAINS ON THE ON TRAINS LONG

- - - 2021. of half first the in ty Authori Railway Federal the to submitted be will Zeppelinheim Weiterstadt 1 to tion from sec of approval planning for documents The consultation. parliamentary for processed be will demands regional The in 2021. continue will participation Public institutional representatives of the region. to presented be could Mannheim and Lorsch between route the for option preferred the 2019, in defined was –NBS) (Neubaustrecke line new the to line train freight Darmstadt Mainz- the connecting for route the After 2020. in reached was milestone gions, a significant Rhine/Main the tween and Rhine/Neckar re line be double track additional the Regarding GERMANY IN PROJECTS 7 RHINE/MAIN AND RHINE/NECKAR RHINE/NECKAR AND RHINE/MAIN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE Belgium. Dudzele, in tracks the onworks Construction 33 - - - -

TABLE OF CONTENTS 34 2021. for expected are decisions planning approval Further 2020. December in 2.1 section approval taken was Friedrichsfeld planning the for decision planning approval The 2021. in completed be should and construction under still is bridge 2020, one in 1.1 completed were Oberhausen section the in flyovers railway five of out Four 2021. in start will works and construction engineering nary 2020. Cate in realised were activities building preliminary the Dinslaken and Voerde Rees, In is under construction. section 1.1 The section Oberhausen. approval planning the in awarded been have works construction entire The started. works construction the for processes tendering and Rees, additional Dinslaken, Oberhausen, VoerdeIn sections the continued. track third the for planning approval and design 2020, the In INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE 8

ABS/NBS EMMERICH –OBERHAUSEN - the classic “live events”. events”. “live classic the in than extensive more even and throughout itive pos were feedback and reactions The streaming. and live- media social interaction combined with solution marketplace using a virtual digitalised mostly was process participation the sequently, Con gatherings. for restrictions massive caused 2021. in COVID-19 follow situation The will parts other the and place took Tunnel the Offenburg for In 2020, public “early participation” committee. advisory the of recommendations the specting re Parliament, Federal German decisions the of the to according design preliminary the on work their finished 7, planners section general In the continuing. are works chine. Preparation ma drilling second the with proceed to a plan developed have Group Working commissioned the and Bahn Deutsche ongoing, still are cess pro and arbitration investigation the Although on. going still is Rastatt in 2017 incident tunnel the for causes the determine to process gation investi The works. construction the in and cess pro planning in approval the both progress ther fur made project –Basel Karlsruhe 2020, the In 9

KARLSRUHE –BASEL KARLSRUHE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC ------

OVERVIEW MAP ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC up its natural shape at the south exit of the tunnel. the of exit taking south tank, the at shape groundwater natural the to its up parallel relocated was ditch Awater Rastatt. of portal south the at conrete line: at the Karlsruhe-Basel works Construction The last piece of the groundwater tank is covered with with covered is tank groundwater the of piece last The INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE 35

TABLE OF CONTENTS 36 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE 45.3 24.3 SECTION TRACK- Updated: January 2020 January Updated: between Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe Basel. between line Valley Rhine the on (PfV) procedures approval plan of state and current works of Overview – BASEL KARLSRUHE PROJECT 17.6 thereof total, in 31.2 42.0 46.5 2–6 8 7 1 9

in operation

km km km km

8.9 8.5 – PROCEDURE (P PLAN-APPROVAL SECTOR 8.4 8.2 9.2 8.3 8.0 9.3 9.0 1.2 1.0 7.4 7.2 7.3 8.1 9.1 1.1 7.1 Mengener Tunnel PfA 7.1 in direction North 7.1PfA direction in Tunnel Extension Offenburg: connection for Re-planning Line New Railway f V) V) Tunnel Offenburg Riegel Katzenbergtunnel Basel Bad. Bf Bad. Basel Auggen Müllheim Kenzingen Freiburg Offenburg Rhine Valley Line Rastatt Baden-Baden ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC

Tunnel Rastatt RHINE WÜRTTEMBERG Karlsruhe ICE-STOP UPGRADE: 200 km/h 200 UPGRADE: 160 /NEW UPGRADE 250 /NEW UPGRADE EXISTING, DOUBLE-TRACK LEVEL-CROSSING P UNDER CONSTRUCTION P P P P PRELIMINARY PLANNING IN OPERATION TUNNEL f f f f f BADEN- V ONLY FOR V UNCONTESTABLE / V EVALUATED V INITIATED PREPARATION V IN km/h km/h

OVERVIEW MAP ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC ETCS L2). A first continuous ETCS installation installation ETCS continuous Afirst L2). ETCS 600 approx. for equipment was awarded ETCS of tendering The achieved: been has progress significant and in 2020 continued in Germany deployment ETCS 2020. of end the by ished fin was Switzerland in approval planning the 9.3, PfA In works. track and platforms er-free barri new of construction the especially ing, ongo 9.2 are PfA in works construction The 2012) 9.1 since time.PfA on are operation (in in documentation and works final The tinued. con be will track the building for and forms plat new for preparations the and struction con under are bridges Several progress. in are works 9.0, construction 9, PfA section In 8.2, 8.4. 8.3 and PfA for place took hearings public The 8.1 section) continuing. is proval (ap PfA for process approval 8, the section In 10 RFC RHINE-ALPINE RFC ON IN GERMANY ETCS km of RFC lines (ETCS L1 and (ETCS LS lines RFC of km

------service quality in the future. the in quality service sufficient ensure in to order system ment an of online development the manage key for has launched DB a Netz tendermanagement, key crypto on demands increasing of view In and Denzlingen). (Köndringen service into taken successfully and been have completed interlockings tronic elec Lahr, two and Basel between ployment de L2 ETCS the of preparation In schedule. on (e. works civil of progress the L1 installations, ETCS of LS preparation In 2022. December in section line Lahr to Basel the with starting stepwise, completed be will Works 2025. December by (NL) expected Venlo is and (CH) Basel of points border the between INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE g. cable tunnels) is tunnels) cable g. 37 - - -

TABLE OF CONTENTS in the new Ceneri Base Tunnel Base Ceneri new the in train freight International SBB Cargo 2.7 new the of tion construc the was project main The passes. and over signalling installations systems, current traction platforms, made to were and 80 enlarged alterations were tunnels 20 some route, Gotthard entire the Along (= Euro). 21 ca, billion Francs Swiss billion 23 about of investments and construction of 27 years about after completed been has Alps) the through Link Railway (New NRLA the Thus, planned. as operation into put was tunnel the 2020, December in change timetable the with concert 2020. In August and March tween be out carried was operation 2019, test the 2017 and between systems frastructure in rail and tunnel the of implementation After SWITZERLAND INPROJECTS 38 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE 11 12

4-METRE CORRIDOR 4-METRE TUNNEL BASE CENERI THE OF OPENING km long Bözberg Tunnel Bözberg long km

- - - - abled for freight trains with a 4-metre profile. a4-metre with trains freight for abled en was Chiasso/Luino and Basel between line Gotthard whole 2020, the 2022. December In by tunnel emergency and aservice as rebuilt be now will tunnel old 2020. The November in line existing the to Tunnel connected was Bözberg new The Schinznach-Dorf. and Effingen between whole length of the tunnel). the of length whole the Tunnel for Base (2nd tube Lötschberg the of expansion” “full the for planning project the commissioned FOT the meantime, the In mid-2021. in (FOT) port Trans of Office Federal Swiss the by proved ap be to expected is project The time. same the at review for submitted were documents 2019. of end the project at The parliament the by approved was which plan, investment 2035 (AS 2035)” “Ausbauschritt national the of part is Tunnel Ferden-Mitholz) (2nd tube Base Lötschberg the of extension partial The 13

TUNNEL BASE LÖTSCHBERG OF UPGRADE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC - - -

OVERVIEW MAP ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC commissioning not before 2031. before commissioning not 2025 before and start not will plementation im The mid-2023. for expected is extension“ or full decision onParliament‘s „partial the the 3 km long double track “Eppenberg-Tun track double long 3km the is centrepiece The time. travel decrease and capacity increase to Aarau and Olten tween be track afourth build to aims project The 2022. for expected are ments improve capacity first The be increased. will capacity overall the addition, In 750-m. to up extended be will sidings existing and structed con be will locos for areas parking New yard. shunting Basel the rebuild to are Plans of the Bözberg Tunnel Schinznach in Bözberg the of portal tunnel new the passing train Freight 14 15

QUADRUPLING OF OLTEN OF QUADRUPLING –AARAU RB BASEL OF IMPROVEMENT - - - - - 750-m tracks is expected by the end of 2022. of end the by expected is tracks 750-m of availability full and Go-live construction. der un is trains freight 750-m for Pino in station the of upgrade the 2019. in opened Currently, was Quartino and Contone between track double The well. as improved be will quality The upgrade. track double apartly and tion sta crossing anew by increased be will pacity ca overall the Luino, and Bellinzona Between cember 2020. cember De in live went project infrastructure whole the 6years, about of period a construction and After Aarau. Schönenwerd nel” between 16

BELLINZONA – LUINO UPGRADE –LUINO BELLINZONA INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE 39 - - - -

TABLE OF CONTENTS 40 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE gauge up to P/C to up gauge 80/410 the on ongoing were loading the upgrading for 2020, works In (TES). authorisation special without run to able be will trains the and completed be will process 2021, In gauge). certification the loading the of limits exceed dimensions Sagoma/overall Trasporti Eccedente (TES: authorization special with line the on run can and Rolling trains Highway trailers with trains Gallarate, to Luino From completed. P/C to line Luino the 80/410 of gauge were loading the upgrading for works 2020, the In node. Milano the involve will works 2022, further In L2. ERTMS asuperimposed with equipped 2021, be for will line the forecasted phase, second the In direction. per and hour per trains 12 to up to increased been has line the of vices) ser (passenger and freight capacity The pleted. com were line Chiasso the of upgrading logical techno for works main 2020, the December In IN ITALYPROJECTS 19 18 17 AND MILANO NODE MILANO AND LINE CHIASSO OF GAUGE LOADING LINE LUINO THE OF GAUGE LOADING LINE CHIASSO OF THE UPGRADE TECHNOLOGICAL - - - and Rolling trains. Highway trailers with trains for upgraded be will node Milano the of lines freight 2022, main all 2021. for In anticipated is Smistamento Milano and Chiasso between line the on ment require (TES) authorisation special the of Removal node. Milano the in and line Chiasso Domodossola-Novara line. Domodossola-Novara on thewas placed operation in commercial L1+ 2020, ERTMS 31On January Infill Radio line. the on running started trains test L2 ERTMS first 2020, the December In 2021. April until continue will and 2020 December in started Test runs site. on L2 ERTMS first the and (RBC) L2 ERTMS the with interfaced be to set is IXL The on 5 2020. December service commercial in placed was Chiasso to Monza from (IXL) ing Interlock Based Computer ‘brand-new’ The 20 19

INTERLOCKING OF CHIASSO LINE CHIASSO OF INTERLOCKING DOMODOSSOLA-NOVARA ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC station, Italy. station, railway Peri at train freight RailA Mercitalia

- -

OVERVIEW MAP ANNUAL REPORT 2020 REPORT ANNUAL RHINE-ALPINE RFC activation in 2019, the sections of phase 3 phase of 2019, in sections the activation 1 phases of completion asuccessful After on the Domodossola deployment the ERTMS The graph shows DOMODOSSOLA OF OVERVIEW DEPLOYMENT ERTMS DOMODOSSOLA PREMOSELLO Pieve Vergonte Pieve Borgomanero VIGNALE NOVARA Orta Miasino Orta Villadossola Caltignaga Gravellona Cressa F. Cressa Gozzano Omegna NOVARA BOSCHETTO Momo

ARONA – MILANO 2 and went into operation in 2020. in operation into went

ARONA – LUINO ERTMS and corresponding the –

– NOVARA SECTION NOVARA

Novara section. Novara ERTMS activated in 2020 in activated ERTMS 2019 in activated ERTMS 2019 in activated ERTMS 2019 in activated ERTMS 2020 in activated ERTMS PHASE 3 PHASE 2 PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 PHASE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS INFRASTRUCTURE

TABLE OF CONTENTS KEY TOPICS IN 2020

Many different topics were addressed by all stakeholders in RFC Rhine-Alpine during 2020 and many achievements KEY TOPICS were accomplished. Despite challenges, especially due to the Corona pandemic, we jointly supported the gradual improvement of conditions for rail freight on the Corridor. IN 2020 Here are RFC Rhine-Alpine’s focus topics for 2020, with joint information from the Management Board and Execu- tive Board.

IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In 2020, the Corona pandemic had many impli- As shown in the chapter “Market development cations for the European rail freight sector and KPIs”, p. 15, the lower economic activity be- dominated our work and private lives through- cause of the COVID-19 crisis resulted in a out the year. We all had to adapt in a highly sharp decline in the freight volume of RFC flexible way to the pandemic developments. Rhine-Alpine from April to June. The number of trains slowly came back to normal levels in Sep- Rail freight and intermodal transport turned out tember and showed a slight increase of 0.6 % to be a very resilient mode of transport. All from October through December. The overall stakeholders in the transport chain did their number of cross-border freight trains in 2020 very best to keep up operations on RFC Rhine-Al- decreased by 7.4 %. pine, protecting the health of their operational staff and shifting as much as possible to con- A positive side effect of the decrease in the num- tactless operations: ber of trains both in rail freight and passenger traffic was a strongly improved performance of • IMs managed to keep almost all routes open; rail freight trains (see chapter “Operations KPIs”, p. 18). All stakeholders in the transport • RUs could run the requested trains and chain were able to improve performance in a sit- reacted flexibly to changed operational uation where lower end-customer requests were needs of customers and end-customers; organised with existing resources and higher capacity on rail infrastructure. There were also less Despite the COVID-19 • Terminal operators enabled contactless infrastructure works during the first phase of the pandemic, RFC Rhine- pick-up and delivery. pandemic than originally planned. However, with Alpine continued in 2020 the number of trains and TCRs getting back to to push for develope- As a result, RFC Rhine-Alpine experienced al- normal levels in the second half of 2020, the de- ments to make the shift most no track closures on account of COVID-19 lays began to increase again. Ultimately, 2020 to rail happen. infections. Some international traffic was even clearly showed the effect of scarce capacity and shifted from road to rail, as trucks and truck an intensively used network like RFC Rhine-Alpine drivers faced more restrictions when crossing on performance. a border.

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All Member States along RFC Rhine-Alpine and At the EU level, Regulation (EU)2020/1429 EU TRANSPORT MINISTERS SIGNED THE BERLIN the European Commission made strong financial was adopted as of 7 October 2020. This Regu- support available to the rail and logistics industry lation gives Member States the flexibility to re- DECLARATION, CONFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF to cover losses from the Corona pandemic. duce the track access charges until 31 Decem- ber 2020 on a non-discriminatory basis. Such a FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS OF THE RFCs AS A TOOL AD HOC EU REGULATION DUE reduction would reduce the costs of railway TO THE PANDEMIC operations during the difficult phase of the pan- TO FACILITATE INTERNATIONAL RAIL FREIGHT. The Executive Board has focused on support- demic. If a Member State decides to reduce ing the resilience of the Rail Freight Corridor the track access charge, the Infrastructure during the pandemic. At the national, bilateral Manager must be compensated for the re- and Corridor level, there has been continuous duced revenues from charges. The reduction monitoring of train performance and barriers. of charges may also include reservation fees. MONITORING THE RFC IMPLEMENTATION Regarding the infection risks, rail freight gen- The period of application of the Regulation may erally has an advantage, as very few train staff be prolonged following a decision by the Euro- members (mostly train drivers) cross national pean Commission. Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 913/2010 speci- management; each giving information on the re- borders. Restrictions on cross-border travel fies that the Executive Boards must report spective topic. The Executive Board of RFC have been alleviated by exceptions for train every 2 years on the results of the implementa- Rhine-Alpine values the work done by the Corri- drivers to ensure continuous operations. This tion plan for their respective Rail Freight Corri- dor to reduce capacity bottlenecks, to offer cor- is in line with the EU Green Lanes concept. dor. The structure of the report of the Executive ridor specific capacity by the C-OSS and to re- Board for RFC Rhine-Alpine in 2020 included the move interoperability issues on the Corridor. It following chapters: Corridor lines and bottle- is committed to working with the Management necks, changes in traffic on the Corridor, state Board and Corridor partners such as RAG and POLICY DEVELOPMENTS of play of the objectives for the Corridor, invest- TAG on further improvements including the per- ment planning, coordination of works, Corridor formance of traffic. One-Stop Shop, capacity allocation and traffic Politically, 2020 has been an important year (2016) and the Vienna Declaration (2018) and for railway policy supporting rail freight. monitors the progress on the identified priorities. The Berlin Declaration confirms the im- LOCARNO DECLARATION portance of further developments of the Rail CAPACITY OFFER With the opening of the Ceneri Base Tunnel, Freight Corridors as a tool to facilitate interna- the Swiss Minister took the initiative for the tional rail freight. It clarifies existing priorities Locarno Declaration 2020. This declaration such as an infrastructure for the 740m train PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE different national legislations and procedures. In underlines the importance of cross-border length, Timetable and Capacity Redesign, and it DRAFT AND FINAL TIMETABLE OFFER these cases, IM timetable colleagues added cooperation on infrastructure planning aimed also lays down some new priorities like digitali- In previous years, RFC Rhine-Alpine had to cope comments in PCS so as not to stop the further at developing both rail freight and passenger sation and automatic coupling. The technologi- with delays caused by the IMs in the harmonisa- allocation process for these dossiers. market. The declaration also confirmed the pri- cal innovation of automatic coupling can im- tion of the timetable offer related to tailor-made orities from earlier ministerial meetings, in- prove the efficiency and safety of the train paths to PaP losers, feeder and outflow paths. Despite these efforts on the part of RFC cluding capacity management and quality of preparation process and needs a network-wide This led to delays in the offer for the Draft and Rhine-Alpine, a large number of Draft and Fi- transport. The Locarno Declaration was en- approach. Final Timetable (DTT and FTT). Therefore, there nal Timetable offers for TT2021 were unfor- dorsed by the Transport Ministers from Aus- was an intensive discussion in 2020 on possible tunately delayed. This was due to the large tria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechten- On 9 December 2020, the European Commis- improvement measures to be able to provide a timetable construction delays at a non-RFC stein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia sion published the Smart and Sustainable good offer to the applicants at the DTT and FTT Rhine-Alpine IM, which affected the harmo- and Switzerland and published on 3 September Transport strategy (COM(2020) 789). In this deadlines. The improvements agreed upon for nised offer between RFC Rhine-Alpine and RFC 2020. strategy, the policy towards the modal shift to the process in TT2021 were also discussed North Sea – Mediterranean. rail freight was confirmed. Doubling of rail with RUs. RFC Rhine-Alpine coordinated a pro- EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS freight in the EU by 2050 is set as a milestone. cess to set clear framework conditions for both DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS A CAPACITY At the European level, the Berlin Declaration The strategy paper confirms the need to re- IMs and RUs. Consequently, it was possible to USAGE PLAN FOR THE RHINE VALLEY was adopted by all EU Transport Ministers plus form the rail freight sector largely in line with make a timely offer in TT2021 for all dossiers DB Netz developed a proposal for a capacity the Ministers from Norway and Switzerland on the Berlin Declaration. that run exclusively on RFC Rhine-Alpine. In very usage plan on the Mannheim – Basel line 21 September 2020. The Berlin Declaration is few cases, harmonisation of the timetable offer based on path orders/capacity usage in previ- a follow-up of the Rotterdam Declaration could not be finalised, among other things due to ous years. This was also coordinated with SBB

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SBB Cargo The DB Netz member of the WG TCR initiated the TCR Tool, which also took into considera- International coordination between DB Netz, ÖBB, SBB Infra- tion the input provided by the RUs in a dedicat- train on the struktur, SNCF Réseau and RFI for the impactful ed workshop. This was done in close coopera- Corridor in works in 2024 on the Rhine valley line to ensure tion with the responsible staff at RNE. The TCR Zugersee, maximum possibilities to deviate freight traffic. Excel overview and impact sheets will, howev- Switzerland. The planned TCRs for 2023, 2024 and 2025 er, still be prepared and published in parallel. were presented and discussed in the RAG meeting on 21 October 2020. DB Netz informed the FROM A REGULATORY PERSPECTIVE participants that they plan to start re-routing In order to ensure that the national IMs of RFC coordination with RUs in spring 2021. The RAG Rhine-Alpine can comply with Annex VII of Di- speaker of RFC Rhine-Alpine also brought this rective 2012/34/EU in terms of the national topic up in the RAG of RFC North Sea – Mediter- legal framework, this action point has been in- ranean with the request to have a joint Working cluded in the Action Plan of the Executive Group of the two RFCs which would deal with Board. The focus points are the new provisions re-routing possibilities. It was clarified that the on cooperation of the IMs regarding capacity responsibility for the coordination with RUs and allocation and harmonisation of capacity re- neighbouring IMs needs to stay with DB Netz strictions on the respective rail networks. which is in charge of the process. The two RFCs will, however, be involved via their TCR experts, In 2020, the IRG-Rail Access Group started to among other ways. review the existing national regulations based on the implementation of the new Annex VII in Valuable support was given by the TCR experts the national Network Statement to jointly of RFC Rhine-Alpine regarding the develop- identify the existing regulations. This will be ment of the TCR Tool at RNE. They continued followed in 2021 by a more detailed and quali- Infrastruktur for continuation in Switzerland. proposal and the idea for the capacity usage piloting the TCR Tool for publication of the tative analysis of the problems and issues Several members of the RFC Rhine-Alpine plan was presented to the potential applicants TCRs on the Corridor lines. Besides this, they arising from the implementation of this new Working Group Product Development were in- during the customer consultations. gave valuable suggestions for improvements of regulation. volved in the process. Various customers have ordered similar paths Due to legal concerns, the originally intended already for TT2021 in national tools. The times formal publication of this capacity supply and at the network borders were already partly its use for path allocation could not be imple- harmonised in the pre-coordination between Camorino junction mented. However, these system paths con- DB Netz and SBB Infrastruktur; this had a pos- at the north portal tributed to an increase in quality. The PaP of- itive effect on the harmonisation quality of the of the Ceneri Base fer for TT2022 is based on the developed path offers for DTT and FTT (TT2021). Tunnel near Giubi- asco/Bellinzona.

TEMPORARY CAPACITY RESTRICTIONS

AT THE RFC WORKING GROUP LEVEL sions and impacts on the RUs. The IM experts According to CID Book 4, future TCRs as a also coordinated the planned maintenance result of the regular international coordina- windows so that transparency could be en- tion were published twice in 2020 – in Janu- sured on this topic as agreed with the RAG. ary and August. Another update was already issued in December 2020. RFC Rhine-Alpine In 2020, RFC Rhine-Alpine also provided infor- publishes TCR information both in the form of mation on planned TCRs in 2021 and 2022 to a detailed Excel sheet and in the form of im- RUs/applicants during the online RAG meetings pact sheets which focus on major TCRs at all and during some online German BID-meetings IMs and provide information on planned diver- (Bauinformationsdialoge).

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INTERNATIONAL CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT

ICM INCIDENT ON THE RHINE the closure, all re-routing requests from RUs VALLEY LINE could be answered with an offer. Mostly, the A tragic accident with a Rolling Highway train in Gäubahn option via Stuttgart/Singen was used Auggen, which resulted in one casualty and sev- for re-routing. As far as re-routing capacity is eral passengers injured, caused a complete concerned, the general thinning out of the line interruption between Freiburg and Basel timetable due to COVID-19 made it easier to from 2 to 8 April 2020. deal with the situation.

A locomotive hauling a Rolling Highway service A detailed analysis of the disruption was pro- collided with a concrete bridge section at Aug- vided to the Management Board and a summa- gen on the Karlsruhe – Basel main line, about ry of effects and findings was also shared with 20 km north of Basel, at around 7.30 p.m. on 2 European stakeholders in a SERAC meeting. April. On this part of the Rhine valley line, the The findings were considered in the review route is currently being expanded to four process of the ICM handbook, which is carried tracks. The concrete section fell from a bridge, out at the RNE level (see below). which was set to be demolished. The locomotive and a coach for drivers, which was coupled UPDATE OF THE ICM RE-ROUTING to the locomotive, derailed following the colli- SCENARIOS sion. The train was loaded with seven lorries The annual update of the re-routing scenarios and was operating on the Rolling Highway route of RFC Rhine-Alpine was organised in the sec- from Freiburg (Breisgau) to Novara, Italy. The ond half of 2020 and published in early January driver of the freight train died and several lorry 2021. The team of RFC Rhine-Alpine together drivers got injured. with the experts from the IMs checked and updated all infrastructure parameters and Replacement of bridge sections on the Munnikensteeg viaduct near Kijfhoek. Due to the accident, the Rhine valley line was streamlined the wording. The most important completely interrupted for six days. Whilst in- changes are the introduction of the recently tra-German re-routing via the Gäubahn (Stutt- opened Ceneri Base Tunnel and the introduc- gart-Singen) was immediately made available tion of capacity indications by DB Netz. The ICM HANDBOOK REVIEW The review process shall be concluded in the by DB Netz, additional capacity could also be Gotthard mountain line is no longer considered In the second half of 2020, RNE started a com- first half of 2021. assured on the Brenner line and via France. for re-routing. prehensive review of the Handbook for Interna- tional Contingency Management, which was PROGRESS ON JOINT ALLOCATION During this interruption, the processes de- The documents can be found on the Corridor first developed in 2018 after the six-week line RULES scribed in the ICM handbook were applied. The website and the information is displayed in the closure in Rastatt. The goal of the Executive Board’s action on coordination role of RFC Rhine-Alpine was CIP map. ICM is to agree on allocation rules in case of highly appreciated by the IMs; relevant stake- As it did during the initial development, RFC international incidents and to share a com- holders were informed and involved. During Rhine-Alpine played a strong role and gave in- mon EU approach on these rules which should put to the review process. Experiences from apply on deviation routes, especially where the Auggen incident in 2020 as well as con- the available capacity for re-routed freight ceptual improvements were brought to the re- trains is limited. A workshop on the allocation view process. rules took place on 29 January 2020, follow- THE REVIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL ing a Network of Executive Boards (NExBo) in- For example, clarifications in the process for itiative. In December 2020, the NExBo decid- CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT PROCESS capacity coordination are based on interviews ed to launch several pilot studies on ICM cases with ICM and TT experts carried out by a task on principal and diversionary lines of the corri- IS ONGOING, WITH A PARTICULAR force of RFC Rhine-Alpine. Also, the mandato- dors by the end of 2021. FOCUS ON CAPACITY COORDINATION AND ry use of the RNE Incident Management Tool as well as modifications to the communication ALLOCATION RULES. process are provided for.

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TRAIN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT In the aviation sector, an approach on how to 2020. Regular (monthly) reports displayed the improve information sharing among all in- train runs from Ludwigshafen to Gallarate volved stakeholders was developed over the from the terminal origin to the destination un- In addition to the overall performance moni- cessfully launched following a CEF programme past 15 years. It is called “Airport Collabora- der the terminal crane including terminal data. toring (see chapter “Performance Report”, support action call on the Issues Log Book. The tive Decision Making” (A-CDM) and is already Terminal data was collected from Hupac and p. 14), several developments were pushed by partners RNE, UIRR, RFC Rhine-Alpine, Hupac, implemented in about 30 airports, mainly in SBB Cargo International. SBB Infrastruktur RFC Rhine-Alpine and its members to improve DB Cargo and the Dutch Ministry will work to- Europe, but also around the world. took care that the information was manually the overall performance management and gether in the 2021-2022 project on multiple fed into TIS based on Excel files. transparency related to the train run. elements: train composition, calculation of ETA, To investigate how and under which conditions role of terminals, feasibility study on Railway this process could be applied and implemented Based on the analysis, improvement measures ELETA Collaborative Decision Making. In this digitali- in the railway sector, RFC Rhine-Alpine launched were introduced by all stakeholders, i. e. termi- The Executive Board has supported the suc- sation project, partners can benefit from the a feasibility study, carried out by HaCon and nal operators, RUs and IMs. Example of some cessful finalisation of the ELETA project. This different work streams and ensure an innova- To70. The result of the feasibility study is ex- of the measures are: provides an intelligent determination of ETA tive and inclusive approach to data sharing. pected by mid-2021. Many stakeholders are in- forecasts available for RUs, IMs and terminals. volved in the study (terminals, RUs, shunting op- • Improving procedures in the BASF TIS is a key enabling technology. The ELETA pro- RAILWAY COLLABORATIVE erators, IMs) to analyse the current situation terminal: Adapted communication process ject held its final conference in November 2019. DECISION MAKING and develop an approach for a potential “Railway for outgoing trains; In 2019, RFC Rhine-Alpine and the Swiss Feder- Collaborative Decision Making” (R-CDM). A • Adaptation of locomotive planning by Regarding the legal provision for the use and al Office of Transport organised three work- meeting with the sounding board as a consulta- eliminating loco changes and adapting exchange of TIS data, a vote on this is provid- shops with RUs, intermodal operators, termi- tion group with stakeholders’ representative roster planning for loco drivers; ed for in RISC 2021, while the publication is nal and port operators to deeply discuss will be organised in 2021 to ensure support, • Several measures at local level both at expected to be done by the first quarter of punctuality issues and how to boost perfor- commitment and validation of the results. Busto/Fascio Hupac and Ludwigshafen KTL, 2021 within the TSI package 2022. mance on the Corridor. One main point high- which will be followed up in dedicated groups; lighted by all stakeholders was the general lack The feasibility study is financed by the EU Com- • Input to further development of integration Building upon the result of the ELETA project, a of transparency along the intermodal transport mission as an activity of the PSA Action “En- of end-to-end information in TIS and train proposal for a digitalisation project (Enhanced chain. Information sharing is at a very low level hanced real-time communication about train linking possibilities in TIS. real-time communication about train composi- and this hampers predictability and resource composition and estimated time of arrival” in co- tion and estimated time of arrival) was suc- management. operation with RNE, UIRR, the Dutch Ministry of The reporting cannot be continued in 2021 due Infrastructure and Water Management, HUPAC to changes in the TIS system. Intermodal and DB Cargo AG. EXECUTIVE BOARD PROPOSAL: END-TO-END PUNCTUALITY REPORTING PERFORMANCE QUALITY CHARTER High output main FOR LUDWIGSHAFEN – GALLARATE On the idea of a quality charter, an elaboration tenance work with The reporting was initiated by SBB Infrastruk- of an overall concept has been prepared and a track renewal tur in October 2019 out of the temporary task the presentation to stakeholders is ongoing. machine on the force Ludwigshafen – Gallarate in order to im- Further meetings will take place in the first German network. prove the punctuality of traffic with all involved quarter of 2021. stakeholders. It continued until the end of

CHANGES TO THE OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK

PILOTS ON REFLECTIVE PLATES which leads to higher expenditures for the The harmonisation of tail signals in Europe is lights and for the process of changing from still an ongoing topic. In a number of countries, plates to lights at the borders. tail lights are requested for safety reasons, while in others, reflective plates are deemed to In Italy, the Italian MoT, NSA and RFI are running be sufficient. On RFC Rhine-Alpine, the RUs pilots with reflective plates on different lines need to use tail lights in Belgium and Italy, and are extending these pilots. In January 2020,

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REJECTION OF TRAIN PATHS ON THE operating agreements. Technical restrictions, VENLO – KALDENKIRCHEN LINE available capacity and previously agreed formal In mid-2020, the Ruling Chamber of the German criteria and regulations were considered. Regulatory Body (Bundesnetzagentur – Federal Network Agency) rejected an intended refusal The Ruling Chamber of the German Regulatory of a train path of LTE Netherlands B.V. over the Body finally rejected the intended train path Venlo – Kaldenkirchen line for the 2020 running rejection in favour of the RU (LTE Netherlands timetable. In accordance with the German Rail- B.V.) concerned as part of this examination. way Regulation Act, DB Netz had previously noti- fied the German Regulatory Body of the intended The full decision of the Ruling Chamber can be refusal of a train path to an access beneficiary. found on the website of the Federal Network Agency. The procedure concerned derogations for freight train lengths of over 690m for the upcoming annual timetables in accordance with the border

ERTMS DEVELOPMENTS

ERTMS EXPERT PLATFORM views of the cross-border sections (Annex 1). In 2020, the cooperation at Corridor level Also included without an update is a presen continued and was successful despite the ef- tation about the System Version Manage- fects of the Corona pandemic. The following ment and the Backward Compatibility Analy- key developments and achievements should sis (Annex 2); be mentioned: • Extension of communication with RUs and ve- North Portal of Ceneri Base Tunnel in Switzerland. hicle owners to inform them about the expect- • Regular reporting to the ERTMS task force ed schedule and type of ETCS installations; on the status of ETCS deployment progress • Further development of the Customer Infor- along the Corridor; mation Platform (CIP) with regard to the pres- • Support in the preparation and contribution entation of ETCS; the third phase of the RFI pilot on reflecting GERMAN RAILWAY NOISE MITIGATION to the ERTMS task force agenda; • Investigation on the content of ETCS cross-bor- plates started. It involves a relevant number of Effective from 13 December 2020, the Ger- • Establishment of a common database for der agreements and notification to EC; lines on RFC Rhine-Alpine: man Railway Noise Mitigation Act (Schlärm- risk assessment (SharePoint app). Crea- • Investigation of the ETCS interfaces with schG) was implemented. Under this legislation, tion and communication of an ETCS risk re- infrastructure operated by third parties in • Premosello-Arona-Sesto Calende-Gallarate; it will no longer be permitted to run or let other port. Risk evaluation and reporting shall be regards of lines and stations equipped with • Pino Tronzano-Maccagno-Luino-Laveno-Sesto parties run noisy freight trains on the German continued; interlockings. Calende-Oleggio-Novara/Novara Boschetto; rail network. However, the German Ministry of • Analysis of the requirements (trackside and • Laveno-Ternate-Gallarate. Transport announced not to impose the sanc- on-board) for the performance of the radio ERTMS TASK FORCE tions mentioned there until the 2021/2022 system, especially in connection with ETCS The ERTMS task force of the Executive Board From March 2021, the pilot will be extended timetable change. L2 and presentation of the results to the had five online meetings with participation of to most of the Italian network. ERTMS task force. Subsequently participa- DG MOVE, ERA, NSA and IM representatives. A freight train is considered ‘noisy’ if at least tion in a dialogue on radio strategy with The main activities included the review of the Based on the TSI OPE (Commission Implement- one wagon in the train is equipped with cast- representatives of the European Commis- state of play of ERTMS deployment and sup- ing Regulation 2019/773/EU), implementation iron brake blocks. Noisy trains may continue sion, Ministries and IMs; port of the publication of the updated ERTMS of reflective tail plates is provided for by 16 to operate in ad hoc services if the train’s • Update of the RFC Rhine-Alpine ETCS de- roll-out planning on the Corridor. The docu- June 2021 if no different national requirements speed is reduced so that its noise emissions ployment overview and publication after ap- ments are published on the Corridor website have been claimed by then. In Belgium, the situ- do not exceed that of a fictitious comparable proval by the ExB and MB. The documents and CIP and show planned timelines, baselines ation is further being studied by the NSA, which train containing only low-noise wagons. include a full review of the main description and ERTMS levels per line section. The publi- makes the decision. and attached maps as well as special over- cation is updated compared to the 2018 pub-

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lished Corridor implementation plan. The On behalf of the ERTMS task force, the Execu- INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY ERTMS task force also decided to work on ad- tive Board wrote a letter to the European ditional map layers for the Radio System and Commission on the Digital Radio Strategy with decommissioning of the class-B systems as views of EU rules on the distribution of radio CAPACITY CHALLENGE The full report will be officially published in they are relevant for the decision-making re- frequencies and technological innovation from As a response to the capacity challenge pre- the first half of 2021. garding the equipment of vehicles with the GSM-R to 5G supported technologies. This is sented in the update of the Capacity Bottle- ERTMS On-Board Units (OBU). an important issue in the medium term neck Analysis for RFC Rhine-Alpine (see infor- The Corridor also published a report on na- (2025+). IMs contributed to the analysis of mation below), the Executive Board decided tional differences influencing the determina- Concerning the development of the OBU sup- the state of play and are closely aligned on the to establish a task force on infrastructure tion of capacity bottlenecks and presented it port programs, the ERTMS task force regular- dialogue with the European Commission (DG bottlenecks. This task force, in line with the to the ExB members and CNC coordinator ly discussed and reviewed the preparation of MOVE and DG CONNECT/ERA). Locarno Declaration, aims at improving infra- and representatives. This report examines partial forms of ETCS OBU retrofit financial structure bottleneck coordination. the different national approaches towards support programs. The European Commission coordinator Matthias capacity calculation and traffic forecast Ruete published his ERTMS work plan in May In 2020, the Working Group Infrastructure & which lead to the determination of capacity The risk report of the ERTMS expert platform 2020 laying down the fundamental conditions Terminals of RFC Rhine–Alpine delivered a new bottlenecks on the respective networks. The introduced in 2020 was well appreciated and and challenges to implement ERTMS on the Euro- edition of the Capacity Bottleneck Analysis. aim is to show the big differences in the na- led to a dedicated initiative regarding the ra- pean TEN-T network. Part A of the report gives an overview of capac- tional approaches. dio strategy. ity (infrastructural) bottlenecks until the year 2030 based on national investment plans. 740m TRAINS In the beginning of 2020, RFC Rhine-Alpine pre- The analysis clearly showed clearly that capacity pared an update of the infrastructure plans to bottlenecks will be a challenge as the existing enable 740m trains on the Corridor. The report bottlenecks will remain on the Corridor until at was discussed with ExB, RAG and TAG and can A freight train passes through the Netherlands least 2030 and that further potential bottle- be found in CIP. on the Betuweroute. necks can emerge. From the side of the Executive Board and as In a separate chapter, the views of the RUs part of its action plan, concerning the topic of are also taken into account, listing the prob- the 740m trains, a questionnaire was launched lem spots they identified. by the German MoT and as soon as all the data has been collected from the other countries, a Additionally, in part B an overview of the op- collective overview will be presented. erational bottlenecks is given, resulting from an analysis of the WG TPM. The idea of this additional information is to give a more com- prehensive overview of the different bottlenecks which might be encountered by the customers of RFC Rhine-Alpine.

COORDINATION WITH CUSTOMERS

RAILWAY UNDERTAKINGS Some highlights are described below: ADVISORY GROUP After the implementation of the ICM Hand- In 2020, the actions of the Railway Undertak- book, the RAG and RFC Rhine-Alpine discussed ings Advisory Group (RAG) and RFC Rhine-Alpine its further improvement. Focus was on the us- complemented each other very well. Several ability of re-routing possibilities and the allo- topics were discussed and followed up together. cation principles. The latter point was taken For the first time, also a joint meeting of RAG up by the Ministries of Transport, who worked and Executive Board was organised. on this topic throughout 2020 and will continue

54 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 55 CONTENTS OF TABLE KEY TOPICS IN 2020 KEY TOPICS IN 2020

in 2021. The RUs completed the picture by de- sented the features of the Rail Facilities Portal, WHERE DO RFC RHINE-ALPINE CUSTOMERS SEE A NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT? veloping their own ICM handbook, which was highlighting the importance of data provision by presented as a draft in the beginning of 2020. the service facilities operators. ICM – quality and usability of re-routing scenarios 89 % Furthermore, a TCR Workshop was organised, USER SATISFACTION SURVEY Infrastructure – infrastructure capacity 79 % with information on the main TCRs in 2021 The User Satisfaction Survey 2020 was pre- Infrastructure – measures taken to improve and information on the TCR Tool which RFC pared and for the first time conducted jointly infrastructure standards 64 % Rhine-Alpine supports as a pilot. The RUs were with all eleven Rail Freight Corridors. In 2020, a TCR – quantity of alternative offers 64 % invited to participate and some tested the tool different approach was chosen by the RFC Net- and gave input for its further development. work. An entirely new and much more targeted TPM – RU/terminal involvement 64 % questionnaire was developed by the RFCs. The Infrastructure – infrastructure parameters 57 % RFC Rhine-Alpine also provided information on survey was conducted between September and infrastructure development updates. An updat- October 2020 and the results were published in TCR – timetable of alternative offers 57 % ed plan regarding infrastructure measures for December 2020. TPM – efficiency of measures taken to improve punctuality 57 % 740m trains was presented in April. Informa- tion from the RFC/IMs was also given on the The overall satisfaction of users with RFC ICM – implementation of new processes 56 % update of the Capacity Bottleneck Analysis un- Rhine-Alpine increased significantly. RFC efforts TCR – quality of altnerative offers 50 % til 2030 and additional information was re- were recognised, e. g. with respect to TCR Tool quested from the RUs to reflect on further bot- testing and the shift to online meetings to involve CIP – Display of ICM re-routing options in CIP 14 % tlenecks they perceive. Also, the feedback on customers as much as possible. The good coop- Commercial offer – collection of needs (wish list) 11 % capacity bottlenecks from the RUs, based on eration between IMs is highly valued. Points for an initiative of the European Commission, was improvement mostly refer to infrastructure-re- Commercial offer – quality of the Reserve Capacity offer 11 % collected and discussed. Additionally, the RUs lated capacity bottlenecks, TPM and TCRs. The Commercial offer – relations (PaPs origins/destinations) 11 % raised the topic of scarce capacity in service results of the survey will be analysed in detail and facilities, which will be followed up in 2021. discussed in the Management Board, Working ICM-information/support on ICM by RFCs 11 % Groups and with stakeholders like ExB, RAG and Communication – information provided in CID books 7 % In 2020, the RUs presented the (intermediate) TAG at the beginning of 2021. results of three sub-projects of the UIC xBorder TPM-regular train performance in report 7 % project. These were the unified braking scheme, CUSTOMER INFORMATION PLATFORM CIP-Information documents on CIP 0 % the concept for an ideal border section and the The Customer Information Platform (CIP) was Communication – information in annual reports 0 % translate4rail approach. RAG and RFC Rhine-Al- further developed and improved in 2020. The pine will follow up on these projects in 2021. main achievements were: Communication – information on social media channels 0 %

Throughout the year, the participants exchanged • Preparation of the roll-out to RFC Amber. The figure above shows the wishes of respondents to initiate improvements regarding specific information on the COVID-19 situation and its As of January 2021, the stakeholders of ten topics. The red bars show a high percentage and indicate that a high need for improvement is effect on rail freight. RFCs benefit from the joint data platform; identified, whilst the green bars reflect a low need for improvement. A low need for improvement • Several developments to improve user can either be explained as a high degree of customer satisfaction or as a low level of importance TERMINAL ADVISORY GROUP friendliness and an update of the graphical attributed to the topic. Due to the Corona situation, the spring TAG user interface; meeting was cancelled. An online meeting was • Alignment with RNE’s big data environment; held with the TAG members on 18 November • General improvement regarding completeness 2020, where the ongoing activities related to of information on line properties and projects; performance management and monitoring and • Improvement regarding display of coherent the R-CDM feasibility study was presented. In- ETCS information and projects on ERTMS; formation was exchanged on the traffic develop- • Adaptions to the user handbook; ment during the Corona crisis. Moreover, RFC • Development of a joint marketing approach. Rhine-Alpine gave information on the Capacity Bottleneck Analysis and the status of 740m trains on RFC Rhine-Alpine. UIRR and RNE pre-

56 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 57 CONTENTS OF TABLE ANNEX

ANNEX: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AB Allocation Body R-CDM Railway Collaborative Decision Making ABS Ausbaustrecke (upgraded line) RAG Railway Undertakings Advisory Group APS Authorisation for Placing in Service RBC Radio Block Centre A-CDM Airport Collaborative Decision Making RC Reserve Capacity BID Bauinformationsdialoge RFC Rail Freight Corridor (construction works information dialogue) RINF Register for Infrastructure CID Corridor Information Document RISC Rail Interoperability and Safety Committee CIP Customer Information Platform RNE RailNetEurope C-OSS Corridor One-Stop-Shop RU Railway Undertaking COGIS Cooperation Germany-Italy-Switzerland SchlärmschG Schienenlärmschutzgesetz DG CONNECT EC’s Directorate-General for (German Railway Noise Mitigation Act) Communication Networks, Content and TAG Terminal Advisory Group Technology TCR Temporary Capacity Restriction DG MOVE EC’s Directorate-General for Mobility and TEN-T Trans-European Network – Transport Transport TES Trasporto Eccedente Sagoma EC European Commission (authorisation for exceeded limit EEIG European Economic Interest Grouping of loading gauge) ELETA Electronic Exchange of ETA information TIS Train Information System ERA European Union Agency for Railways TPM Train Performance Management ERTMS European Rail Traffic Management System TSI Technical Specifications for Interoperability ETA Estimated Time of Arrival TSI OPE TSI Subsystem for Operation and ETCS European Train Control System Traffic Management ExB Executive Board TT Timetable FOT Swiss Federal Office of Transport TVS Schweizerische Trassenvergabestelle GSM-R Global System for Mobile Communication, (Swiss Allocation Body) subset Rail UIC International Union of Railways ICM International Contingency Management UIRR International Union for IM Infrastructure Manager Road-Rail Combined Transport IMPRINT IRG-Rail Independent Regulators’ Group – Rail WG Working Group IWW Inland Waterways © Copyright IXL System of Electronic Interlocking EEIG Corridor Rhine-Alpine EWIV Adam-Riese-Straße 11-13 MB Management Board 60327 Frankfurt am Main MoT Ministry of Transport www.corridor-rhine-alpine.eu NBS Neubaustrecke (new line) NExBo Network of Executive Boards Concept NRLA New Railway Link through the Alps CARRASCAL/DINDIN Communication Design NSA National Safety Authority Picture credits OBU On-board Unit p. 2 above: SBB Cargo; center: BLS, Markus Seeger; below: DB Netz AG / Sebastian PaP Pre-arranged Path Roedig; p. 3 above: SBB AG; center: Deutsche Bahn AG / Marco Pros; below: DB AG; PCS Path Coordination System p. 11: A. Paulus / Fotopaulus; p. 14: BLS, Markus Seeger; p. 23: DB AG / Jürgen PfA Planfeststellungsabschnitt Schmidt; p. 24: graphic, BLS; p. 25: BLS / Stefan Irngartinger; p. 30: SBB AG; p. 32: ProRail B.V. / Derk Luijt; p. 33: Infrabel / Benjamin Brolet; p. 34: DB AG / Jürgen (approval section) Schmidt; p. 35: DB Netz AG / Sebastian Roedig; p. 37: DB Netz AG / Juergen Schmidt; PIM Program Implementation Manager p. 38: SBB / Dario Häusermann; p. 39: Keystone; p. 40: Mercitalia Rail; p. 42: DB AG; PMO Program Management Office p. 46: SBB Cargo International; p. 47: SBB AG; p. 49: ProRail; p. 50: DB Netz AG; p. 52: PSA Program Support Action (EU co-financing) AlpTransit Gotthard AG; p. 54: ProRail;

58 RFC RHINE-ALPINE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 CONTENTS OF TABLE EEIG Corridor Rhine-Alpine EWIV

Adam-Riese-Straße 11-13 60327 Frankfurt am Main Germany [email protected] www.corridor-rhine-alpine.eu