RailNetEurope (RNE)
RailNetEurope (RNE) was created in January 2004 on the initiative of a number of European railway Infrastructure Managers and Allocation Bodies (IMs/ABs), who wished to establish a common, Europe-wide organisation. RNE is a non-profit making association of IMs/ABs. Its aims are to support Railway Undertakings (RUs) in their international activities and increase the efficiency of the Infrastructure Managers’ processes. Together, the members of RailNetEurope are promoting a business approach and harmonising the use of rail infrastructure for the benefit of the entire rail industry across Europe.
RNE was set up as an Association under Austrian law and its Joint Office (in charge of co-ordination) is based in Vienna. RNE’s role is to represent its Members as an ‘Association for Facilitating International Rail Traffic on the European Rail Infrastructure’. The Association is financed mainly by membership fees.
It should be stressed that RNE is an umbrella organisation: it does not conduct any operational activities itself but provides a platform and a network for its members and its business partners. Operational tasks related to RNE’s work are taken care of by member IMs/ABs themselves.
Within this context, RNE
- co-ordinates the harmonisation and development of international rail infrastructure products, services, tools and processes,
- improves the quality of existing rail products, processes and services,
- provides legal, technical and commercial information on the European railway infrastructure.
Pathfinder
Pathfinder is a web application provided by RNE to Infrastructure Managers, Allocation Bodies and Path Applicants which covers the communication and co-ordination processes for international path requests and path offers. Furthermore Pathfinder assists Railway Undertakings (RUs) and Applicants in their pre-co-ordination tasks related to train path studies and international train path requests. In short, the Pathfinder tool reflects RNE’s OSS (One Stop Shop) philosophy of providing support to business processes and daily activities.
EICIS
EICIS (European Infrastructure Charging Information System) is an IT tool provided by RNE; it will be further improved to become a price estimation tool supporting the daily business activities of the OSS (One Stop Shop contact points) and marketing departments within the IMs to a greater extent to help the IMs’ customers, the Railway Undertakings, to get quick, non-binding price information about international access charges for rail infrastructure.
EUROPTIRAILS
The EUROPTIRAILS tools support international train management at a high level by delivering train data regarding international passenger and freight trains. The train data is extracted directly from the Infrastructure Managers’ systems. EUROPTIRAILS consists of two tools. One is the web-based application, which provides real-time data on international trains and can be used with a simple web browser. For example, this graphical interface shows IMs and RUs where their international train is at a given moment in Europe, as well as any delays and delay reasons. The other tool is the reporting function, which provides performance reports after the train run. The RNE customer surveys 2006 and 2008 have shown that the demand for those tools on the RU side is very high.
Corridor network
One-Stop-Shop Network
Thanks to procedural optimisation, the average response time for short-term path requests has been reduced by 30% to 6.4 working days. Pursuant to a survey carried out in 2008, these values are considered satisfactory from customers' point of view. OSS’ major domains of work are ITPM (train path sales and management) and CC (customer care).
EUROPTIRAILS
The IT System allows a real-time monitoring of trains and provides valuable cross-border dispatching information for both railway undertakings and infrastructure managers. Customers can apply for access to this tool.
Pathfinder
The international path request coordination system for Railway Undertakings and Infrastructure Managers.
