Regulatory dispute on access charges to the rail infrastructure

The new track access charge system approved by the Italian regulator (“ART”, Autorità di Regolazione Trasporti) and implemented by the Italian infrastructure manager has determined a significant increase to the fee for international passenger transport. Lear has been retained by two train operators that offer this service to assess the methodology proposed by ART for the determination of the access charges. Lear’s economists have shown that the criteria used by ART are not supported by an adequate methodology and do not rely on sufficient evidence: ART’s decision to substantially increase the access fee for the international transport has been taken without any proper assessment of the market, in particular regarding the conditions of the demand.