Railway Infrastructure Access and Capacity Allocation Regulation

The Regulation on Railway Infrastructure Access and Capacity Allocation (Regulation) entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette dated 28.09.2023 and numbered 32323. The important amendments introduced by the Regulation are summarized below:

• The Regulation stipulates the procedures and principles to be applied about railway infrastructure access fees and allocation of railway infrastructure capacity; and includes details regarding network statements, access agreements and the business plan to be prepared by railway infrastructure operators.
• Under the Regulation, infrastructure usage fees in the network statements, which have 90 days to be implemented or which are within the implementation period, cannot be reduced or increased. Infrastructure access fees may include an additional charge reflecting the lack of capacity during periods of infrastructure congestion. 
• The Regulation provides details on fee differentiation. According to the Regulation, the fee differentiation coefficients and the list of market segments to which they will be applied are published in the network statement. 
• (i) In case of any purchase, sale, lease, or other transfer of allocated infrastructure capacity between railway train operators, an administrative fine of 50,000 (fifty thousand) Turkish Liras shall be imposed on railway infrastructure and train operators separately for each train trip, (ii) in case a railway train operator makes a complaint regarding unfair treatment or discrimination and the complainant suffers material damage, an administrative fine of 25,000 (twenty-five thousand) Turkish Liras shall be imposed on the infrastructure operator and/or railway train operator. These fines are subject to revaluation each year.