Tendering railway public service obligation contracts : a balance sheet

Regulation 1370/2007, as amended by the Fourth Railway Package, set the date of 25 December 2023 for the opening to competition of services subject to public service obligations. As opposed to the model of “competition in the market” for commercial services, the model for PSO services is that of competition for market’, i.e. tendering of contracts for the competitive selection of the operator with whom the PSO contract will be concluded. Some Member States started tendering for PSO contracts some years ago. This is the case in Sweden and Germany. These experiences are of great interest to identify the potential of tendering, but also the challenges it faces. In France, the regions have started tendering PPO services more recently. Spain has made use of the transitional period foreseen in Regulation 1370/2007. The contract between the State and Renfe is valid until 2027 and can be extended for a further five years, although the third clause bis establishes that for some services, which account for around 3% of the contract, the validity is limited to 1 January 2026. This means that the first tender could take place in the coming months. The CNMC has opened a consultation on this issue. The experience of the pioneer countries will be of interest in addressing the challenges of tendering, including: the subject of the contracts (optimal size), duration, progressive timetable for tendering, access to rolling stock, human resources, exemptions from the tendering obligation. On 11 December 2024, PTFE-FFE organised a workshop in Madrid with the Florence School of Regulation, Transport area, on ‘Best practices: Tendering Public Service Obligations Contracts in Railways.’ This Policy Brief summarises the main takeaways from the workshop.