Viable alternatives
Article 12
1. Where a request for access to service facilities and rail-related services cannot be accommodated after the coordination procedure, the operator of a service facility listed in point 2 of Annex II to Directive 2012/34/EU shall inform the applicant concerned and the regulatory body, upon its request, without undue delay. Member States may require that the regulatory body is informed even in the absence of such a request. 2. The operator of a service facility listed in point 2 of Annex II to Directive 2012/34/EU and the applicant shall, if a request cannot be accommodated, jointly assess whether there are viable alternatives allowing to operate the freight or passenger service concerned on the same or alternative routes under economically acceptable conditions. The applicant shall not be required to disclose its business strategy. 3. For the purpose of paragraph 2 the operator of the service facility shall indicate possible alternatives, including, where relevant, in other Member States, on the basis of other service facility descriptions, information published on a common web portal in accordance with Article 5 and any information provided by the applicant. When proposing possible alternatives, at least the following criteria shall be taken into account, to the extent that those can be assessed by the operator of the service facility: — substitutability of operational characteristics of the alternative service facility; — substitutability of physical and technical characteristics of the alternative service facility; — clear impact on attractiveness and competitiveness of the railway transport service envisaged by the applicant; — estimated additional cost for the applicant. The operator of a service facility shall respect the commercial confidentiality of information provided by the applicant. 4. Where information on the capacity of the proposed alternative is not publicly available, the applicant shall verify it. The applicant shall assess whether using the proposed alternative would allow it to operate the envisaged transport service under economically acceptable conditions. It shall inform the operator of the service facility about the outcome of its assessment within a jointly agreed deadline. 5. The applicant may request the operator of a service facility not to indicate the viable alternatives and not to proceed to the joint assessment.