ALLRAIL
Alliance of Rail New Entrants (ALLRAIL) is the European non-profit association of independent passenger rail companies, both rail operators and ticket vendors. ALLRAIL was established in May 2017, and is based in Brussels, Belgium. ALLRAIL has the status of an EU representative body.
Mission
ALLRAIL seeks fair competition, non-discriminatory conditions and market opening in passenger rail.
- Only by allowing real competition on rail will the passenger rail sector become competitive, and attractive compared to other less sustainable modes of transport.
- In the limited cases where rail market opening has already occurred, the results have brought about better quality, reduced fares, new jobs, greater efficiency and modal shift to rail, which is good for the environment.
Challenge
Passenger rail in the EU is at a turning point and has great potential to become the backbone of the European multimodal network.
- The Status Quo is not just unsatisfactory for many existing passengers but also for those who do not yet take the train because it is not attractive enough.
- Until now, there have been few EU rail sector initiatives that have genuinely attracted the additional passengers to rail. This is unfortunate because otherwise Europe will not reach its ambitious decarbonisation goals
- Meanwhile, discrimination against independent passenger rail companies remains a big problem, frightening away desperately needed private investment from the sector. All operators and ticket vendors must have the same access to track infrastructure, rolling stock, facilities, data and ticket distribution systems.
- Competition should not be about who has best access to the neutral, interoperable infrastructure of passenger rail – which we believe are the tracks, rolling stock, facilities or ticketing systems. Instead, all market participants should have equal access to these. Competition should then be about which company makes best use of them and make its rail offering the most attractive for consumers.
- ALLRAIL seeks market opening policies which will ensure that passenger rail becomes a crucial part of the EU Green Deal, acting in a fast and effective manner to achieve modal shift.
The ALLRAIL Vision
We share a common vision: ‘rail transport as a service’ driven by passenger needs.
- Rail must be a vital backbone of European multimodal public transport services based on an efficient, eco-friendly and digital approach. We also believe that there must be a level playing field with other modes of transport.
- ALLRAIL’s vision resonates with the objective of the EU Fourth Railway Package – encouraging competition and innovation in domestic and cross-border passenger rail markets. A Single European Rail Market will be a source of both our collective future prosperity and wellbeing, but it still needs higher levels of interoperability.
- Our members have demonstrated that it has been possible to introduce new services, improve the rail ticket booking experience and consequently achieve modal shift to rail. We now need to be able to roll out these examples on a truly European wide scale.
www.allrail.eu