- allocation
means the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity by an infrastructure manager;
- alternative route
means another route between the same origin and destination where there is substitutability between the two routes for the operation of the freight or passenger service concerned by the railway undertaking;
- applicant
means a railway undertaking or an international grouping of railway undertakings or other persons or legal entities, such as competent authorities under Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 and shippers, freight forwarders and combined transport operators, with a public-service or commercial interest in procuring infrastructure capacity;
- capacity-enhancement plan
means a measure or series of measures with a calendar for their implementation which aim to alleviate the capacity constraints which led to the declaration of an element of infrastructure as 'congested infrastructure';
- congested infrastructure
means an element of infrastructure for which demand for infrastructure capacity cannot be fully satisfied during certain periods even after coordination of the different requests for capacity;
- contractual agreement
means an agreement or, mutatis mutandis, an arrangement within the framework of administrative measures;
- coordination
means the process through which the infrastructure manager and applicants will attempt to resolve situations in which there are conflicting applications for infrastructure capacity;
- cross-border agreement
means any agreement between two or more Member States or between Member States and third countries intended to facilitate the provision of cross-border rail services;
- development of the railway infrastructure
means network planning, financial and investment planning as well as the building and upgrading of the infrastructure;
- framework agreement
means a legally binding general agreement under public or private law, setting out the rights and obligations of an applicant and the infrastructure manager in relation to the infrastructure capacity to be allocated and the charges to be levied over a period longer than one working timetable period;
- heavy maintenance
means work that is not carried out routinely as part of day-to-day operations and requires the vehicle to be removed from service;
- high speed passenger services
means passenger rail services operated without intermediate stops between two places separated at least by a distance of more than 200 km on specially-built high-speed lines equipped for speeds generally equal or greater than 250 km/h and running on average at those speeds.
- infrastructure capacity
means the potential to schedule train paths requested for an element of infrastructure for a certain period;
- infrastructure manager
means any body or firm responsible for the operation, maintenance and renewal of railway infrastructure on a network, as well as responsible for participating in its development as determined by the Member State within the framework of its general policy on development and financing of infrastructure;
- international freight service
means a transport service where the train crosses at least one border of a Member State;
- international passenger service
means a passenger service where the train crosses at least one border of a Member State and where the principal purpose of the service is to carry passengers between stations located in different Member States;
- licence
means an authorisation issued by a licensing authority to an undertaking, by which its capacity to provide rail transport services as a railway undertaking is recognised;
- licensing authority
means the body responsible for granting licences within a Member State;
- maintenance of the railway infrastructure
means works intended to maintain the condition and capability of existing infrastructure;
- management board
means the senior body of an undertaking performing executive and administrative functions, which is responsible and accountable for day-to-day management of the undertaking;
- network
means the entire railway infrastructure managed by an infrastructure manager;
- network statement
means the statement which sets out in detail the general rules, deadlines, procedures and criteria for charging and capacity-allocation schemes, including such other information as is required to enable applications for infrastructure capacity;
- operation of the railway infrastructure
means train path allocation, traffic management and infrastructure charging;
- operator of service facility
means any public or private entity responsible for managing one or more service facilities or supplying one or more services to railway undertakings referred to in points 2 to 4 of Annex II;
- public private partnership
means a binding arrangement between public bodies and one or more undertakings other than the main infrastructure manager of a Member State, under which the undertakings partially or totally construct and/or fund railway infrastructure, and/or acquire the right to exercise any of the functions listed in point (2) for a predefined period of time.
- railway infrastructure
means the items listed in Annex I;
- railway undertaking
means any public or private undertaking licensed according to this Directive, the principal business of which is to provide services for the transport of goods and/or passengers by rail with a requirement that the undertaking ensure traction;
- reasonable profit
means a rate of return on own capital that takes account of the risk, including that to revenue, or the absence of such risk, incurred by the operator of the service facility and is in line with the average rate for the sector concerned in recent years;
- regional services
means transport services whose principal purpose is to meet the transport needs of a region, including a cross-border region;
- renewal of the railway infrastructure
means major substitution works on the existing infrastructure which do not change its overall performance;
- service facility
means the installation, including ground area, building and equipment, which has been specially arranged, as a whole or in part, to allow the supply of one or more services referred to in points 2 to 4 of Annex II;
- storage siding
means sidings specifically dedicated to temporary parking of railway vehicles between two assignments;
- supervisory board
means the most senior body of an undertaking that fulfils supervisory tasks, including the exercise of control over the management board and general strategic decisions regarding the undertaking;
- through ticket
means a ticket or tickets representing a transport contract for successive railway services operated by one or more railway undertakings;
- train path
means the infrastructure capacity needed to run a train between two places over a given period;
- transit
means crossing territory of the Union without loading or unloading goods, and/or without picking up passengers or setting them down in territory of the Union;
- upgrade of the railway infrastructure
means major modification works to the infrastructure which improve its overall performance;
- urban and suburban services
means transport services whose principal purpose is to meet the transport needs of an urban centre or conurbation, including a cross-border conurbation, together with transport needs between such a centre or conurbation and surrounding areas;
- vertically integrated undertaking
means an undertaking where, within the meaning of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004: It also means an undertaking consisting of distinct divisions, including an infrastructure manager and one or several divisions providing transport services that do not have a distinct legal personality.
- viable alternative
means access to another service facility which is economically acceptable to the railway undertaking, and allows it to operate the freight or passenger service concerned;
- working timetable
means the data defining all planned train and rolling-stock movements which will take place on the relevant infrastructure during the period for which it is in force;