For fifteen years, cross-border freight capacity was organised through the rail freight corridors of Regulation (EU) 913/2010. With Regulation (EU) 2026/1184 that instrument has been repealed and folded into a network-wide capacity regime. The second freight file of the 2023 Greening Freight package — the revision of the Combined Transport Directive — has not been concluded.
Regulation 913/2010 — the corridor model
Regulation (EU) 913/2010 established the European rail freight corridors, each governed by an executive board of the Member States and a management board of the infrastructure managers, with a Corridor One-Stop-Shop offering pre-arranged paths and reserve capacity, and coordinated rules on traffic management and works. The corridors were later aligned with the TEN-T core network corridors.
Replacement by Regulation (EU) 2026/1184
Regulation (EU) 2026/1184 of 20 May 2026 on the use of railway infrastructure capacity repeals Regulation 913/2010 and amends Directive 2012/34/EU. It entered into force on 11 June 2026, but the repeal of Regulation 913/2010 takes effect only on 14 December 2030 (Art. 80(1)) — the date from which the new planning and allocation rules apply to working timetables (Art. 81(2)(c)). Until then the corridors, their boards and the Corridor One-Stop-Shops continue to operate on the existing basis, and references to Regulation 913/2010 are afterwards read as references to the new Regulation under the correlation table in Annex X.
The corridor tools are not simply abolished but generalised. Cross-border coordination moves to the infrastructure managers network-wide, organised in ENIM, with a network coordinator and focal points for coordination (Arts. 55–64); multi-network capacity rights can be requested from several infrastructure managers in one go (Art. 30); and the corridor »reserve capacity« is succeeded by a rolling planning process that infrastructure managers must offer at least to freight, with capacity reserved in the capacity supply plan, requests between four months and one month before the first train, and capacity rights of up to 36 months (Art. 35, Annex I Section 6). Railway undertakings are represented in a European Railway Platform. See the note on track access for the planning cascade.
Combined transport — Directive 92/106/EEC
Directive 92/106/EEC defines combined transport (road-rail, road-inland-waterway and road-sea with a minimum non-road leg) and grants it exemptions from road cabotage and authorisation rules and the possibility of tax relief. The Commission proposed a revision in November 2023 (COM(2023) 702), widening the definition and adding support measures. The file stalled in Council; the Commission then signalled its intention to withdraw the proposal, which the European Parliament opposed in January 2026. At the June 2026 Transport Council, Malta called for the discussions to continue. As of October 2026 the revision is neither adopted nor formally withdrawn, and the 1992 Directive remains in force.
Why it matters for rolling-stock financing
Freight wagons and locomotives are financed on merchant risk, and their residual value depends on cross-border usability. The capacity regulation’s promise — more predictable international paths from the 2030s — supports interoperable, multi-country fleets; its delayed application means the corridor-era products remain the practical reference for some years. For intermodal operators, the legal definition of combined transport determines eligibility for the road-side privileges that underpin terminal and wagon business cases.
Selected references
Regulation (EU) 913/2010 (repealed) · Regulation (EU) 2026/1184 · Directive 92/106/EEC · COM(2023) 702 · Directive 2012/34/EU.
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
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2026/1184, signed text PE-CONS 27/26 of 20 May 2026 (Arts. 30, 35, 55–64, 80, 81, Annex I); European Commission, news of 10 June 2026; Forum Train Europe, 10 June 2026; Railfreight.com, 29 January 2026; Council of the EU, minutes of the TTE (Transport) Council of 8 June 2026 (doc. 10469/26).
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.