NMa: ProRail needs to adjust performance scheme due to unequal treatment of freight transporters

Dutch railway infrastructure manager ProRail has to adjust its performance scheme 'quiet wagon kilometers' because the scheme leads to unequal treatment of railway undertakings. The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) comes to this conclusion in response to a complaint that railway undertaking DB Schenker (Railion Nederland N.V.) had filed with the NMa.

The said performance scheme entails that railway undertakings will be financially rewarded if they reduce noise emissions by utilizing retrofitted low-noise rolling stock. DB Schenker, which solely transports freight, filed a complaint claiming that the performance scheme discriminates between freight rolling stock and passenger rolling stock, as ProRail applies different kilometer ceilings to each type of rolling stock. The maximum bonus for freight transporters per retrofitted wagon is €2,400, while the maximum bonus for passenger transporters is twice as much, namely €4,800 per retrofitted wagon. The NMa is of the opinion that this differentiation in bonus ceilings is arbitrary, since ProRail was unable to clearly justify to the NMa why it used different ceilings. As a result of this opinion, the NMa has ordered ProRail to adjust the performance scheme within a reasonable period of time.

The investigation of this case has been carried out by the Office of Transport Regulation, the unit of the NMa that is charged with oversight of the transport industry under, among others, the Dutch Railway Act. A full version of the decision (in Dutch) is available for download on the NMa's website (www.acm.nl).