Socio-Economic Allocation Principles: Change Management Recommedation Published

Since 2021, Forum Train Europe together with RNE is running a project called “Allocation Principles”. The purpose of the project is to investigate new modern methods how to tackle situations when the remaining capacity cannot satisfy all needs.

The extensive discussions in the joint RU-IM taskforce led to direction to investigate so called “socio-economic modelling”. FTE launched a dedicated project page, where you can find:

  • What are the allocation principles?
  • What are the shortcomings of the current system?
  • What is the social-economic modelling?
  • Is the socio-economic approach distant future / too difficult to implement?
  • What does FTE do in regard of the Allocation Principles Project? Where does the project stand now?

The innovativeness and potential benefits of the socio-economic criteria were recently recognised by the European Commission, which proposed it as the last resort capacity allocation rules in its new EU Regulation 443 on the Use of Railway Infrastructure Capacity.

The socio-economic modelling might at the first sight look too complex to implement, however, if properly managed, the implementation can be successful, the new system smooth and the benefits significantly outweigh the effort. Since the experience with such projects is limited, we aimed to collect the experience from the Nordic countries and provide guidance for future implementers on how to manage the project to a successful end. Interviews were conducted with the Norwegian, Swedish and Finish IMs, and a «Change Management Recommendation» was made available for the sector/public.

Link to Change Management Recommendation
Link to Allocation Principles webpage