The executive order on rail-related service facilities and services applies to rail-related service facilities as stated in Annex II, point 2, litra b-i of the European Parliament and Council Directive 2012/34/EU of 21. November 2012 on establishing a single European railway area, including freight terminals, marshalling yards, train formation facilities, depot access, maintenance facilities etc. Stations and associated buildings are excepted from the national regulation on rail-related service facilities and are instead, covered by the executive order on access obligation at stations.
Access to rail-related service facilities and services
The service facility operators are obliged to make the service facilities and associated services available to the railway undertakings and other users of the service facilities on equal and non-discriminatory terms in accordance with the rules in the national Regulation on rail-related service facilities and the implementing regulation on railway-related service facilities (the executive order on service facilities).
If the operator provides some of the additional services referred to in Annex II, point 3 of the Directive, the services are provided without discrimination to all railway undertakings that apply for them.
Railway undertakings may also request from the operator other services referred to in Annex II, point 4 of the Directive as ancillary services. The operator is not obliged to provide these services. If the operator decides to offer some of these services to individual railway undertakings, it shall provide the services on request to other railway undertakings without discrimination.
Applications for access to and provision of services at the service facility are submitted to the service facility operator, who responds to the applications within a reasonable time, typically within a maximum of 5 working days. However, the deadline can be determined in more detail by the Board. When a service facility manager encounters conflicts between different applications, it tries to accommodate all applications as much as possible. The operator can refuse an application if there are viable alternatives.
Carters and freight forwarders etc. who are partners in corporation with applicants who receive services from a rail-related service facility, also have access on equal and non-discriminatory terms.
In connection with the use of a service facility, the railway companies have the right to be able to handle the general functions of the train themselves within the area of the service facility to the extent necessary.
Service facility description
The executive order on service facilities states that operators draw up a service facility description for the service facility and the services they provide. This contains, among other things, a list of all facilities in which rail-related services are provided, the main contact details for the operator of the service facility, a description of the technical characteristics of the service facility, a description of all rail-related services provided, possibility of self-provision of rail-related services, information on procedures for application for access to the service facility, a description of the coordination procedure for incompatible applications as well as information on charges for access to service facilities and charges for the use of each of the rail-related services provided in them, etc.
Operators of service facilities must make the service facility description publicly available. Publication typically takes place on either the operator's own website or a joint web portal.
Charges for the use of service facilities and services
The charges for track access to the service facilities and the provision of services must be set in such a way that any discrimination between users is avoided. The charges must only cover the full costs that can be attributed to the individual service, with the addition of a reasonable profit.
A reasonable profit corresponds to a return on equity that is in line with the average returns of the past years in the sector in question and taking into account the risk incurred by the operator.
The Board can in connection with the processing of complaints and during supervision of its own operations, decide on adjustment of the charges if the charging level is not set in accordance with the mentioned requirements.
In order to promote efficient use of the railway infrastructure and the service facility at times when this is underutilized, discount schemes can be introduced in the form of time-limited discounts. These must be available to all applicants on equal and non-discriminatory terms.
Accounting for service facilities
Service facility operators engaged in rail transport must maintain separate accounts for the service facility.
In addition, operators that are directly or indirectly controlled by a body or undertaking with a dominant position on the rail transport market must be organized in such a way that the operator, when providing services, is independent of that body or undertaking.
Operators who are covered by the above-mentioned prepare, documentation for the tariff setting, i.e., product calculations, whereby the costs of the service facilities are distributed among each service.
Furthermore, the operator must ensure that a chartered accountant submits a statement for insurance for each financial year on whether the requirement to separate the service facility's accounts from other activities has been complied with, including that there is no cross-subsidization between the service facility operator and another associated company, e.g., railway undertaking.
Application for capacity allocation of railway infrastructure
The railway undertakings apply to Banedanmark for the capacity allocation up to the service facility in connection with the general capacity allocation on the rest of the railway network. The operator must inform, Banedanmark no later than 14 months before the timetable change about the capacity of the service facility, the following year.
Supervision and appeal procedures
According to § 13 and § 14 of the service facility order, the the Board functions as both a supervisory authority and a complaint body in relation to ensuring compliance with the rules in the executive order. Users who are denied access can appeal the decision to the the Board within 4 weeks.
Complaints about the operator's charges can be submitted to the the Board at any time. Users of the service facility thus have the opportunity to approach the the Board in case of disagreements with operators regarding the aforementioned rules.