CHAPTER IVLEVYING OF CHARGES FOR THE USE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ALLOCATION OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY

SECTION 2 Infrastructure and services charges

Article 29Establishing, determining and collecting charges

1.

Member States shall establish a charging framework while respecting the management independence laid down in Article 4.

Subject to that condition, Member States shall also establish specific charging rules or delegate such powers to the infrastructure manager.

Member States shall ensure that the network statement contains the charging framework and charging rules or indicates a website where the charging framework and charging rules are published.

The infrastructure manager shall determine and collect the charge for the use of infrastructure in accordance with the established charging framework and charging rules.

Without prejudice to the management independence laid down in Article 4 and provided that the right has been directly conferred by constitutional law before 15 December 2010, the national parliament may have the right to scrutinise and, where appropriate, review the level of charges determined by the infrastructure manager. Any such review shall ensure that charges comply with this Directive, the established charging framework and charging rules.

2.

Except where specific arrangements are made under Article 32(3), infrastructure managers shall ensure that the charging scheme in use is based on the same principles over the whole of their network.

3.

Infrastructure managers shall ensure that the application of the charging scheme results in equivalent and non-discriminatory charges for different railway undertakings that perform services of an equivalent nature in a similar part of the market and that the charges actually applied comply with the rules laid down in the network statement.

4.

An infrastructure manager shall respect the commercial confidentiality of information provided to it by applicants.