An important task of the Competition Authority is to proceed complaints filed by railway operators. If a railway operator finds that a railway infrastructure operator has treated it unfairly upon confirming a railway network announcement, distributing throughput capacity, organising a coordination proceeding, declaring a depletion of throughput capacity, arranging a traffic schedule, arranging traffic control, planning updates, performing maintenance works, or setting a usage fee, the railway operator may file a complaint with the Competition Authority.
To ensure fair competitive situation in the rail services market, the Competition Authority shall cooperate with the appropriate supervisory bodies of other member states.
In Estonia, the railways managed by the following infrastructure undertakings are designated for public use:
- AS Eesti Raudtee (marked with blue in the drawing) and
- Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS (marked with brown in the drawing).
AS Eesti Raudtee manages 1229 km of railways and provides the service of granting the use of railway infrastructure to rail transport service undertakings and rolling stock owners together with traffic control. Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS manages 223.8 km of railways, while providing similar services.
In 2018, Directive (EU) 2016/2370 of the European Parliament and of the Council in regard to the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail and the governance of the railway infrastructure was adopted into Estonian law. In addition, the requirements were clarified to ensure the independence of railway infrastructure operators as well as non-discriminatory treatment and effective competition of applicants for capacity. The amendments increased the list of complaints, the proceeding of which is within the competence of the Competition Authority. Also, additional basis was laid down for defining the requirements for the independence of the railway infrastructure undertaking and the fulfilment of the main tasks.
Legislation
Last updated: 18.09.2023