Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail has been charged a 25,000-euros fine for failing to timely communicate the tariff for the use of main shunting yard Kijfhoek. Rail operators faced a long period of uncertainty about the tariff and this affected business operations, according to the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM), which issued the fine.

According to the ACM, the rail manager should have communicated information about the tariffs in the Network Statement 2020. ProRail manages the Kijfhoek shunting site, including the shunting hill that forms part of this. This hill is used for sorting freight wagons that arrive at the marshalling yard by destination.

Network statement

The network statement must contain all the information that railway undertakings need in order to exercise the right of access to the railways. They need complete and correct information in order to make the right choices.

With the fine, the ACM gives ProRail “a warning that such violation may not occur again”. On the other hand, the ACM has “taken into account that ProRail had published all its other rates in a timely manner”. The market authority does indicate that ProRail published the tariff “before the capacity for the shunting hill at Kijfhoek was divided and the tariff came into effect”.

Shunting yards

ProRail is responsible for allocating the capacity on shunting sites that are used by freight carriers for parking and linking wagons. ProRail also provides access to services offered on marshalling grounds.

Kijfhoek is the only shunting site in the Netherlands that has an automated trolley sorting system. The Railways Act stipulates, among other things, that ProRail must ensure that carriers have access to marshalling grounds. The ACM supervises the correct implementation of the Railways Act.