About Us
RFC North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean
The ambitions of the Corridor arise from both the TEN-T and the RFC Regulation, which serve as the guiding star for the work of the North Sea –Rhine– Mediterranean Corridor. The Corridor Governance has decided to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative objectives.
Qualitative Objectives
The Backbone of Seamless Transport
The primary objective for RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean is to establish rail freight as the backbone of sustainable, efficient, and seamless goods transport across the regions it connects.
The Corridor aims at enhancing the share and capacity of rail freight, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing environmental pollution, while simultaneously delivering significant social and economic benefits. By addressing bottlenecks, closing missing links, and improving cross-border sections, the Corridor strives to enable uninterrupted freight flows and reinforce its strategic importance for international trade and logistics within the European Union.
A key focus of the Corridor is to improve interoperability and the integration of rail freight with other modes of transport, thereby creating a cohesive and flexible multimodal logistics network. To achieve this, the infrastructure along the Corridor shall be designed to support zero-emission and low-emission rail transport, fostering energy-efficient operations that contribute to the EU’s climate and sustainability goals. Operational efficiency will further be enhanced by optimizing traffic management, capacity usage, and the overall performance of rail services.
Maintaining and upgrading existing rail infrastructure along the Corridor is critical to ensuring resilience against climate change, improving safety, and guaranteeing reliable operations. Embracing digitalization and automation, including the deployment of ERTMS on the Corridor lines, will play a vital role in streamlining operations, improving punctuality, and creating a smarter and more competitive rail freight network.
RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean also aims to alleviate negative impacts on urban areas and densely populated regions caused by transit traffic by helping to advance the modal shift. Moreover, the Corridor seeks to support to reduce congestion, air pollution, and noise emissions, thereby contributing to healthier and more sustainable urban environments by encouraging a modal shift from road to rail.
Finally, the Corridor is committed to facilitating efficient border crossings for rail freight, minimizing delays, and ensuring non-discriminatory access for all market participants. These goals collectively aim to position the Corridor as a cornerstone of sustainable and competitive rail freight transport in Europe.
Quantitative Objectives
Creating the Largest European Transport Corridor
The Rail Freight Governance of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean shall make all possible efforts to ensure by 31 December 2030, that the quality of services provided to railway undertakings and the technical and operational requirements for infrastructure use support the operational performance of rail freight services along the European Transport Corridor and to meet the target values, as described in Article 19 (1 a&b)) of the TEN-T Regulation and also referred to in Article 19(3) of the RFC Regulation and described below in the following paragraphs.
The progress in achieving these target values will be described in the Annual Report of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean.
Operational priority 1
Dwell time at inner European borders
For each internal cross-border section, the dwell time of all freight trains crossing the border between two Member States shall not exceed 25 minutes on average.
The dwell time of a train on a cross-border section refers to the total additional transit time that can be attributed to the existence of the border crossing, regardless of procedures or factors of an infrastructural, operational, technical, or administrative nature. Dwell time does not include any time that cannot be attributed to the border crossing, such as operational procedures carried out in facilities near the border crossing but not related to it.
In addition to this, RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean will extend this objective to the borders between the involved Member States and Switzerland.
Although the predecessors of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean have already been monitoring the dwell time at border sections, this might not exactly fit the definition of dwelling time as described here and this is also not comparable with what is published at the moment. From 2026 some new borders have to be taken into account for which no historical data is available. Therefore, the IMs and RFCs concerned together with RNE, are analysing how to interpret this dwell time and to agree on a common and harmonised way of measuring this objective.
As the new alignment of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean will officially become operational from the date of publication of the capacity offer on 12 January 2026, RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean will start monitoring this operational priority from 2026 onwards and will report on it for the first time in its Annual Report (see point 4.8 above) for 2026, to be published in 2027.
The following border sections will be observed by RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean for dwell time: Border sections on RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean
Zevenaar Oost (NL)
Venlo (NL)
Sas van Gent (NL)
Roosendaal (NL)
Montzen (BE)
Arlon (BE)
Athus (BE)
Moeskroen (BE)
Y Aubange (BE)
Y Froyennes (BE)
Erquelinnes (BE)
Thionville (FR)
Wasserbillig (LU)
Forbach (FR)
St Louis Haut Rhin (FR)
Pougny-Chancy (FR)
Basel Badischer Bf. (DE)
Brig (CH)*
Chiasso SM (CH)*
Luino (CH)*
Emmerich (DE)
Kaldenkirchen (DE)
Zelzate (BE) ¹
Essen (BE)
Aachen West (DE)
Kleinbettingen (LU)
Pétange (LU)
Tourcoing (FR)
Pétange (LU)
Mont-Saint-Martin (FR)
Baisieux (FR)
Jeumont (FR)
Bettembourg (LU)
Igel (D)
Saarbrücken (D)
Basel St. Johann (CH)*
La Plaine (CH)*
Basel SBB PB/RB (CH)*
Domo II (IT)
Domodossola (IT)
Bivio PC Rosales (IT)
Ranzo (IT) – S. Abbondio (IT)
* indicates borders between Member States and Switzerland
¹ is currently measured only on the Belgian side
Operational priority 2
Punctuality of trains crossing a border along the RFC
It is the aim of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean that at least 75% of the freight trains crossing at least one border along the Corridor shall arrive at their destination, at their scheduled time or with a delay of less than 30 minutes, provided that the delay is attributable to the Infrastructure Manager(s) within the Union.
Delays that occur in and are attributable to third countries crossed by freight trains shall not be taken into account.
Although the predecessors of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean have already been monitoring the punctuality on Corridor lines, this does not exactly fit the definition of the requirement as described here. The threshold currently used is equal or less than 30 minutes and no distinction is being made related to the reason of delays by IM, RU, or others. Punctuality is measured at RFC Entry and RFC Exit, which might not be the final destination of the train.
Additionally, new lines have been added which are not yet monitored. Therefore, the IMs and RFCs concerned, together with RNE are analysing how to interpret this punctuality target and to agree on a common and harmonised way of measuring this objective.
The first punctuality measurements for RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean,which will also include the Corridor lines in Switzerland, will be carried out in 2026 and published in the Annual Report for the Corridor in mid-2027.
European Framework
Strength in Structure
Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 on Union guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), that was published in June 2024, revises the TEN-T policy and amends the Regulation (EU) 913/2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight.
The TEN-T policy is a key instrument for planning and developing a coherent, efficient and multimodal transport infrastructure across the EU. The network includes railways, inland waterways, roads and air transport, and connects urban nodes, ports, airports, and terminals, facilitating efficient transport, access to jobs, trade, and economic growth.
It shall strengthen the EU’s cohesion by creating seamless transport systems across borders, reducing gaps and bottlenecks. It also aims to reduce environmental impacts and enhance safety and resilience.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1679
Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 defines nine multimodal European Transport Corridors (ETC), that integrate the Rail Freight Corridors. It also foresees the merger of the Corridors Rhine – Alpine and North Sea – Mediterranean into a single Corridor under the name North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean.
The ETC now crosses 8 countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland. Each ETC has a European Coordinator, who acts as ambassador of the TEN-T policy and oversees the progress of the corresponding ETC.
Rail Freight Corridor North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean spans a geographically diverse and economically significant area of Europe, connecting some of the continent’s most critical industrial, logistical, and port regions. Stretching from the North Sea ports in the Netherlands, Belgium and France to the Mediterranean ports of Marseille / Fos-sur-Mer in France and Genoa in Italy. Luxembourg, as a central hub, provides efficient links for cross-border freight transport, leveraging its strategic location in Europe.
In Germany the Corridor connects industrial heartlands like the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main regions to the rest of Europe. Switzerland serves as a transit nation, providing important Alpine crossings for north-south traffic via the two base tunnels Gotthard and Lötschberg. Switzerland is therefore an active part of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean and accepts the TEN-T and RFC framework conditions. Collectively, the Corridor links these countries into an integrated network that drives trade, supports economic growth, and enables sustainable freight transport solutions across the continent.
Organisation
Executive and Management Boards
The Executive Board (ExBo) consists of the representatives of the respective Transport Ministries from the countries involved and makes key decisions regarding the strategy and the cooperation on the Corridor. The Executive Board is co-chaired by the Ministries of Transport of Belgium and Switzerland.
The members of the Executive Board of RFC NSRM in The Hague, December 2025.
The ExBo for RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean was established officially as of 1st of January 2025 after the Ministers of Transport of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy have signed an arrangement to constitute the Executive Board in December 2024. Ireland decided to make use of Article 8(2b) of the RFC Regulation. Representatives from Ireland will not be part of the Executive Board or the Management Board of this corridor even though Ireland is strongly supportive of the establishment of this Corridor and its governance.
The Management Board (MB), consisting of high-level management representatives from the IMs and ABs involved, oversees the effective implementation of the Corridor. A second IM in Italy, FERROVIENORD, was also included. Figure 23 shows the organisational structure implemented by the Management Board to fulfil the tasks deriving from the RFC Regulation.
The Management Board is chaired by Guus de Mol (ProRail). Vice-Chair is Britta Schreiner (CFL Infrastructure).
Representatives in the Management Board
Guus de Mol
ProRail
Britta Schreiner
CFL
Michel Geubelle
Infrabel
Floraine Stauffer
TVS
Claude Mahowald
ACF
Claire Hamoniau
SNCF Réseau
Oliver Sellnick
DB InfraGO
Roger Beutler
BLS Netz
Andrea Galluzzi
RFI
Stephan Schenk
SBB Infrastruktur
Marco Barra Caracciolo
FERROVIENORD
The Management Board has decided to establish an EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping) that is a legal entity to assist the MB. The responsible infrastructure managers (IM) / allocation bodies (AB) of the Corridor countries are members.
Members of the EEIG
- ProRail (for the Dutch network)
- Infrabel (for the Belgian network)
- DB InfraGO AG (for the German network)
- CFL Infrastructure (for the Luxembourgish network)
- SNCF Réseau (for the French network)
- RFI (for parts of the Italian network)
- FERROVIENORD (for parts of the Italian network).
Contractors of the EEIG
- ACF (the Luxembourgish allocation body)
- SBB Infrastruktur (for parts of the Swiss network)
- BLS Netz (for parts of the Swiss network)
- TVS (Trassenvergabestelle) (Swiss allocation body)
The MB has established a Programme Management Office (PMO), which functions as the permanent working organization of the IMs. Some IMs choose to support the PMO by Programme Managers. Implementation Plan RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean 54
Corridor One Stop Shop (C-OSS)
The Corridor One Stop Shop (C-OSS) facilitates train path management for international rail freight. It presents the single point of contact allowing applicants to request and receive answers regarding infrastructure capacity for international freight trains on the Corridor.
PMO
The PMO is led by a designated Managing Director and oversees the goals and activities of the dedicated Corridor Working Groups. The role of Managing Director is held by Martin Cygon (DB InfraGO AG).
Advisory Groups (RAG and TAG)
The Railway undertaking Advisory Group (RAG) and the Terminal Advisory Group (TAG) are advisory groups to the Management Board. With the amended RFC Regulation their role has been enhanced. They are consulted and can provide opinions on the Corridor performance as well as on the infrastructure development and investment needs of the Corridor. These platforms facilitate the involvement of railway undertakings and non-RU applicants (RUs), terminal operators, and other stakeholders in the intermodal transport chain, ensuring that their opinions and requirements are considered in the Corridor’s development from a user-centric perspective. Both groups are chaired by Speakers selected among the participating representatives. Both Advisory Groups have slots in the meetings of the Executive Board and Management Board of RFC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean.
More on the RAG can be found here: Railway undertakings Advisory Group
The Rail Freight Governance closely cooperates with the European Coordinator. For the ETC North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean Prof. Paweł Wojciechowski was appointed European Coordinator for the newly merged Corridor in September 2024.
Team
People Who Keep the Wheels Turning
Our team combines expertise, dedication, and innovation to keep rail freight moving smoothly. With deep industry knowledge and a commitment to reliability, we work together to deliver efficient, sustainable, and future-focused solutions for every client and every journey.
Managing Directors
Martin Cygon
Sibel Ozcan
sibel.ozcan@reseau.sncf.fr
Performance Manager
Nicolai Bader
Stakeholder Manager
Shadi Daerrezaee
Corridor Manager
Philipp Hansel
C-OSS Managers
Stephanie Bscheid
Jean Quaeyhaegens
