Based on the guidelines of the European Union, the Republic of Slovenia has set itself the goal to gradually implement and establish a single European railway area and to liberalize the railway market to establish greater competitiveness of the common European railway area, which will enable the integration of the Slovenian railway transport system into the single European railway area and will ensure the efficiency and the competitiveness of the railways for freight and passenger railway transport. With the introduction of the new rules many new administrative procedures have emerged, which impose a heavy administrative burden on carriers and other parties involved, even though they are essentially well-established. Despite uniform rules Member States apply the defined procedures differently in practice. Common European rules are interpreted very differently, so the implementation of the European directives and regulations varies from Member State to Member State. The Republic of Slovenia has relatively well implemented the EU directives and regulations issued in the field of railway transport, but in some cases the set goals remain unfulfilled. The interoperability of rail transport is improving, but there are still differences between national rail networks. With a larger number of operators on the market the quality and range of services are increasing, and at the same time more affordable services are emerging, which lead to greater competitiveness of the rail transport compared to other modes of transport. Nevertheless, new entrants still face barriers and hidden discrimination on the market, while incumbent (national) railway operators maintain high market shares. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure the investments in the obsolete railway infrastructure with the objective to make rail transport as competitive as possible with other modes of transport. In view of the above, it is important that the Republic of Slovenia cooperates more actively in the governance of the Slovenian railway transport system to ensure a high level of interoperability and clear rules and procedures, as well as competitive market conditions, and to prevent hidden discriminatory practices to new entrants in the market and to ensure accelerated investments in the railway infrastructure.
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