Implementing regulation 2015/429 - Modalities to be followed for the application of the charging for the cost of noise effects - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 70/36

The White Paper ‘Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area — Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system’ (2) indicated that 10 % of the European population is exposed to significant noise pollution from rail transport, in particular freight. Noise is a localised externality, affecting people living close to railway lines. Its reduction is the most cost-effective at the source, where the noise is produced. The replacement of cast iron brake blocks with composite brake blocks can bring noise reductions of up to 10 dB. Therefore the support of the retrofitting of wagons with the most economically viable low-noise braking technology available should be encouraged and pursued.

This Regulation aims at incentivising the retrofitting by allowing the reimbursement of relevant costs linked with installation of composite brake blocks.

Article 31(5) of Directive 2012/34/EU empowered the Commission to adopt implementing measures setting out the modalities to be followed for the application of the charging for the cost of noise effects including its duration of application and enabling the differentiation of infrastructure charges to take into account, where appropriate, the sensitivity of the area affected, in particular in terms of the size of population affected and the train composition with an impact on the level of noise emissions (‘noise-differentiated track access charges’ or ‘NDTAC’).

This Regulation sets out such modalities and provides an appropriate legal framework on the basis of which a scheme establishing NDTAC (‘the scheme’) should be introduced and applied by the infrastructure managers. This legal framework should guarantee to the railway undertakings, wagon keepers and other stakeholders a legal security and incentives to retrofit their wagons. Therefore the modalities set out by this Regulation cover the duration of the scheme, the level of incentives and the related arrangements.

For the purpose of providing the necessary expertise and assistance, the Commission established in 2011 a NDTAC expert working group. The group consisted of representatives of interested Member States, infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, wagon keepers and civil society, and provided valuable input.

Member States should be free to decide whether the infrastructure manager should modify the infrastructure charges, in accordance with this Regulation, in order to take into account the cost of noise effects.

Wagons which comply with Commission Regulation (EU) No 1304/2014 (3) on the technical specifications of interoperability relating to the subsystem ‘rolling stock — noise’ and its subsequent modifications (‘TSI Noise’), should be considered ‘silent’. Wagons which do not comply with TSI Noise should be considered ‘noisy’. If, during a renewal or upgrading of a wagon, the latter is equipped with certified composite brake blocks and no noise sources are added to the wagon under assessment, then it should be assumed that the requirements of TSI Noise are met.

There are wagons that cannot be retrofitted with composite brake blocks due to their technical characteristics. These wagons should not fall within...