The Fourth Railway Package is the umbrella term for six acts adopted in 2016 that restructured the institutional and market architecture of EU rail. A technical pillar moved vehicle authorisation and safety certification to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA); a market pillar opened domestic passenger services and made competitive tendering the default for public service contracts. The Regulation page discusses its financing consequences; this note is the reference overview.
The two pillars
Technical pillar (adopted 11 May 2016): Directive (EU) 2016/797 on interoperability, Directive (EU) 2016/798 on safety and Regulation (EU) 2016/796 on the ERA. Market pillar (adopted 14 December 2016): Directive (EU) 2016/2370 amending Directive 2012/34/EU, and Regulation (EU) 2016/2338 amending Regulation (EC) 1370/2007. A third market-pillar act, Regulation (EU) 2016/2337, repealed the old regulation on the normalisation of railway accounts.
ERA as authorisation authority
The technical pillar moved key authorisations from national safety authorities to ERA. ERA issues the vehicle authorisation for placing on the market and the single safety certificate where the area of use or operation covers more than one Member State; where it is confined to one Member State, the applicant chooses between ERA and the national safety authority — in Germany the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt. Details are in the note on safety certification and vehicle authorisation.
The One-Stop-Shop
Every application runs through ERA’s One-Stop-Shop (OSS), the IT portal through which a single dossier is routed to ERA and the national safety authorities concerned. The procedures are set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/545 (vehicle authorisation) and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/762 together with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/763 (safety certificates), including time limits and the coordination between ERA and the national authorities.
Market pillar — domestic passenger services
Directive (EU) 2016/2370 opened domestic passenger services to open access in time for the working timetable starting on 14 December 2020 and tightened the independence rules for integrated infrastructure managers. Regulation (EU) 2016/2338 made competitive tendering the general rule for rail public service contracts; the unconditional direct-award option for rail under the old Art. 5(6) of Regulation 1370/2007 expired on 25 December 2023. Narrower direct-award bases remain — Art. 5(3a), (3b), (4a) and (4b) — and the CJEU has continued to shape their reach (see the note on the 1370 direct-award case law).
Since 2016
The Package is no longer the newest layer. The TSI revision of 2023 (see TSI) and Regulation (EU) 2026/1184 on infrastructure capacity (see track access) build on it; the Commission’s May 2026 proposals on rail ticketing and passenger rights (see passenger rights) address the market side. ERA’s role as the single authority for cross-border vehicles has become the reference point for residual-value arguments in fleet financing: an authorised vehicle can be redeployed across its authorised area of use without a fresh substantive authorisation.
Selected references
Directive (EU) 2016/797 · Directive (EU) 2016/798 · Regulation (EU) 2016/796 · Directive (EU) 2016/2370 · Regulation (EU) 2016/2338 · Regulation (EU) 2016/2337 · Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/545 · Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/762 · Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/763.
Related topic notes
- Track access & capacity allocation · Track-access charges
- Fourth Railway Package · TSI · Safety certification & vehicle authorisation · ECM
- Freight corridors & combined transport · Passenger rights · State aid for rail · Altmark
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.