Railway transport: licensing of undertakings

The purpose of introducing such licensing is to guarantee the application of common conditions of access to the Community rail market, within the framework of the rights of access to railway infrastructures granted under Directive 91/440/EEC. The fact that an undertaking has a licence would guarantee that it was able to supply safe and efficient railway services. In itself, a licence does not give an undertaking any right to operate transport services; it authorises it to request rights of access to the infrastructure as provided for by the Directive.