Implementation deadlines
1. Each telematics stakeholder shall ensure that any new telematics applications it deploys after the entry into force of this Regulation comply with this Regulation.
2. For its existing telematics applications, each telematics stakeholder shall follow the milestones set out in Appendix G of the Annex to ensure that those applications and the data shared or made accessible through them comply with this Regulation as regards the processes referred to in Article 2(1) and carried out in relation to the working timetables for the year 2030 that apply from 9 December 2029.
3. For the purposes of paragraph 2, operators of rail freight service facilities shall benefit from an additional transitional period of 12 months.
4. Operators of service facilities listed in point (2) of Annex II to Directive 2012/34/EU not referred to in other paragraphs of this Article may choose to apply this Regulation on a voluntary basis.
5. Where the planning or the implementation of the telematics subsystem in accordance with Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 or (EU) No 1305/2014 has reached a point where its compliance with this Regulation may compromise the viability of the putting into service of that subsystem, the deadlines set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 may be extended by 12 months.
Implementation monitoring
1. The Agency shall provide a web application supporting telematics stakeholders’ reporting. That web application shall enable automated data import from telematics applications used by telematics stakeholders to support their implementation reporting.
2. Until proof of compliance of their telematics applications is provided pursuant to Article 18, telematics stakeholders shall report to the Agency, using the automated web application referred to in paragraph 1, setting out in an accurate and transparent manner the status of their implementation and their implementation plans to meet the milestones set out in Appendix G of the Annex, in accordance with the following conditions:
(a)
no later than 2 September 2027, each infrastructure manager shall report in the following areas:
(i)
capacity management;
(ii)
train preparation;
(iii)
traffic management;
(b)
no later than 2 March 2028:
(i)
each freight railway undertaking shall report in the areas of train preparation and the management of freight wagons and their load;
(ii)
each operator of rail freight service facilities shall report in the area of traffic management;
(iii)
each station manager shall report in the area of rail ticketing and rail passenger travel information;
(iv)
each passenger railway undertaking shall report in the areas of train preparation, rail ticketing and rail passenger travel information.
3. Telematics stakeholders shall coordinate their efforts in drawing up their implementation plans. Each Member State shall support national coordination or delegate the task to the national contact point.
4. The Agency shall publish aggregated figures about the status of the implementation and the implementation plans per Member State and at Union level, linked to the network size for infrastructure managers and to market share of railway undertakings expressed as tonnes/km and passengers/km, respectively.
Compliance assessment
1. The Agency shall provide a web application enabling telematics stakeholders to automatically self-assess individual messages.
The Agency shall publish a user manual describing the different functions of the web applications.
2. Each telematics stakeholder subject to reporting obligations pursuant to Article 17 shall self-assess the compliance of its telematics applications only in relation to the data shared using the web application referred to in paragraph 1 before the implementation deadlines set out in Article 16. Individual messages self-assessed shall comply with the testing procedure set out in point 1.6 of the Annex and Appendix D.1 thereto.
3. Where self-assessment results are positive, the web application referred to in paragraph 1 shall automatically perform all the following functions:
(a)
issue an evidence-based declaration providing to the self-assessed telematics stakeholder and to the Agency a presumption of compliance of self-assessed messages and associated telematics applications with the provisions of this Regulation;
(b)
compile the relevant information associated with this self-assessment as set out in point 1 of Appendix D.1 to the Annex;
(c)
generate and publish a list of telematics applications which are presumed to be compliant.
4. Where a telematics application has received a positive compliance assessment delivered and published by the Agency before the date of entry into force of this Regulation, such an assessment shall remain valid unless changes are made to it.
5. Changes to a telematics application shall be self-assessed where such changes have an impact on any of the following matters:
(a)
the data elements, data structure or sequence to be shared pursuant to Article 7(3);
(b)
the implementation of a new or updated API or web UI;
(c)
cybersecurity measures pursuant to Article 7(2).
6. In the case a justified alleged non-compliance of a telematics application used by a telematic stakeholder, or where there is justified doubt, the Agency shall, on its own initiative or upon request of the Commission, a Union body, a public sector body or a telematics stakeholder, evaluate the correctness of the self-assessment based on the relevant information compiled pursuant to paragraph 3(b) and in accordance with the testing procedure set out in Appendix D.2.
7. The Agency shall inform the requesting entity and the telematics stakeholder using the telematics applications evaluated of the result, of its evaluation that may be used for follow-up actions, including enforcement by a national safety authority as defined in Article 3, point (7), of Directive (EU) 2016/798, or other national authorities responsible for the implementation of this Regulation.
8. The Agency shall also evaluate the correctness of the self-assessment on the basis of the information compiled in accordance with paragraph 3(b) for projects of telematics applications where an application for Union financial support has been submitted.
Upon request, the Agency may also perform such evaluation for projects not subject to Union financial support as a service pursuant to Article 64(2), point (d), and Article 80(2), point (c), of Regulation (EU) 2016/796.
9. The Agency shall set out, publish and apply the procedures and deadlines to evaluate the correctness of the self-assessment for the purposes of paragraphs 6, 7 and 8.
Innovative solutions
1. Where a telematics stakeholder intends to use an innovative solution for a telematics application not envisaged by this Regulation, it shall submit the technical file associated with the proposed innovative solution to the Commission for analysis and declare how the interoperability of interfaces with other compliant telematics stakeholders can be ensured. The Commission shall request the opinion of the Agency pursuant to Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 on the proposed innovative solution.
2. Where the Agency’s opinion is negative, the innovative solution proposed cannot be applied.
3. Where the Agency’s opinion is positive, the appropriate functional and interface specification and the testing procedure to allow the use of such innovative solution shall be developed and may subsequently be included as part of the revision process laid down in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/797.
4. In addition to paragraph 3, the Agency may consider in its positive opinion that the innovative solution constitutes an acceptable means of compliance pursuant to Article 6(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/797. In that case, that positive opinion may be used to assess the compliance of the innovative solution with this Regulation.
National contact point
1. Member States shall designate a national contact point (‘NCP’), independent from railway undertakings or other applicants, among the representatives of either a public sector body or an infrastructure manager and ensure appropriate resources.
2. Where a Member State decides to appoint different actors in relation to the processes referred to in Article 2(1) and the tasks referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, the designated NCP shall ensure coordination of those actors at national level and remains the single point of contact for the Agency, the Commission, and other relevant organisations.
3. The NCP shall carry out the following tasks:
(a)
act as Member State representative in the working party referred to in Article 22, cooperate with the Agency and other NCPs, and share with the working party relevant operational views and issues reported by telematics stakeholders in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner;
(b)
collect relevant market shares and contact details of telematics stakeholders covered by Article 17, and share them with the Agency;
(c)
facilitate contacts between Member States, telematics stakeholders at national level, the Agency, the Commission, and other relevant organisations;
(d)
support a coordinated implementation of the provisions of this Regulation by facilitating:
(i)
return of experience and exchange of best practices among telematics stakeholders at national level, as well as at Union level in the working party referred to in Article 22;
(ii)
coordination of infrastructure managers’ implementation plans and consultation of other telematics stakeholders through the rail sector representative bodies listed by the Commission pursuant to Article 38(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/796;
(iii)
integration of prospective telematics stakeholders informing them about the applicable framework.
4. By 2 December 2026, each Member State shall communicate to the Agency the details of the designated NCP. The Agency shall publish those details.
Cooperation and coordination
1. Infrastructure managers shall cooperate within the European network of infrastructure managers, referred to in Article 7f of Directive 2012/34/EU and in consultation with operators of rail freight service facilities, railway undertakings and other telematics stakeholders to coordinate the following:
(a)
the development of common sector specifications for a common Union API and common Union web user interfaces referred to in Article 14(5), point (a), of this Regulation;
(b)
their implementation plans at Union level and the consultation with other telematics stakeholders active at national level with the support of national contact points.
2. Freight railway undertakings shall cooperate on the development of a common sector specification for a common Union API and common Union web user interfaces referred to in Article 14(6).
3. Operators of rail freight service facilities shall cooperate on the development of a common sector specification for a common Union API and common Union web user interfaces referred to in Article 14(5), point (b).
4. By 30 September 2027, infrastructure managers, freight railway undertakings and operators of rail freight service facilities shall deliver within the process managed by the Agency referred in Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2016/797 their respective common sector specifications resulting from their tasks under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article taking into account the work of the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking established in Title IV of Council Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 ( 37 ) .
ERA working party on telematics
The working party or parties established by the Agency pursuant to Chapter 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 shall assist the Agency in applying and further developing the functional and technical specifications set out in this Regulation, in particular in the following tasks of the Agency:
(a)
ensure relevant coordination and cooperation of telematics stakeholders to guarantee implementation and application of this Regulation;
(b)
ensure cooperation of national contact points at Union level and harmonised and coordinated implementation of their tasks across the Union;
(c)
monitor the quality of the common reference data referred to in Article 9(3);
(d)
develop and maintain the user manual referred to in Article 9(1), second subparagraph and the procedure referred to in Article 9(2) for submitting requests for the assignment of reference codes;
(e)
harmonise, where relevant, the network-specific data requirements referred in accordance with Article 11(3);
(f)
develop and maintain the procedure referred to in Article 12(1) and maintain the harmonised specifications issued by the Agency in accordance with Article 12;
(g)
provide guidance for the development of sector specifications supporting the update of harmonised specifications referred to in Articles 12 and 21;
(h)
design, implement, maintain and ensure the automation of data import supporting the reporting obligations referred to in Article 17;
(i)
maintain the testing procedures referred to in point 1.6 of the Annex and Appendix D.1 thereto;
(j)
implement future developments of this Regulation referred to in Article 23;
(k)
facilitate exchange between and collect best practices from telematics stakeholders at Union level;
(l)
reflect on the need for follow-up action by the Agency, the Commission, or the Member States, where relevant;
(m)
shape and contribute to the implementation of follow-up actions to the feedback provided by the working parties;
(n)
identify and prepare strategic topics related to the digitalisation of the rail system with an impact on the subsystem telematics applications for discussion in a wider policy context;
(o)
report to the Commission pursuant to Article 24.
Future developments
By 31 December 2028, the Agency shall make, taking into account the work of the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking established in Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2021/2085 and the common specifications referred to in Article 21(4) of this Regulation, a recommendation to the Commission pursuant to Article 19(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 for the update of the functional and technical specifications laid down in this Regulation with the following objectives and conduct on an impact assessment for that recommendation pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2016/796:
(a)
reflecting regulatory and technical developments affecting the rail system;
(b)
converting the list of specific data requirements based on positively assessed national rules referred to in Article 11(5) of this Regulation into harmonised specifications, specific cases, or open point as appropriate;
(c)
closing the list of open points in Appendix B of the Annex to this Regulation;
(d)
updating the references to the specifications referred to in Article 12 of this Regulation;
(e)
as part of the technical specifications referenced in Appendix C to the Annex to this Regulation, ensuring appropriate and backward compatible transition from technical documents referenced in this Regulation and other specifications compatible and interoperable with those documents to relevant European standards referred to in Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
