Government Approves the Launch of Procedure for Selection of Railway Service Operators for 12-Year Period

The government on August 20 approved the launch of a procedure to select operators for the provision of public railway services. This initiative forms part of the reforms under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which stipulates that future railway service contracts will be awarded through an open competitive process.

The service will be procured by the state under long-term contracts of 12 years, preceded by a mobilisation period. The start date for each contract is 13 December 2026, with an end date of 11 December 2038. Contracts will be awarded on a regional basis, divided into three lots: Western, Northern, and Southern.

Selected operators will be required to provide service facilities for the technical maintenance of rolling stock. If they do not have such facilities, the material base of the current railway operator will be made available under equal terms and pricing for all selected operators.

Employment relationships with current workers and staff will be maintained and will not be terminated upon the appointment of new operators for the public transport service. Collective labour agreements will remain in force for the duration of the contracts, in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the Labour Code.