The new railway environment
Today’s status
The GCU
(General Contract of Use for Wagons)
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
1
The GCU (General Contract of Use for Wagons)
PRESENTATION

-
The GCU:
its origine ?
Its usefulness?

GCU and transport contract : why two contracts?
PRACTICALLY





J.L. Dosquet
What should be done if a damage is noticed to a wagon during the
transportation ?
What should be done if a damage is noticed after arrival or on a private
siding ?
What should be done if my wagon causes an accident or damages?
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
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1st July 2006: Application OTIF Vilnius Protocoll 1999
After
Before
R-Wagons
Bilateral
Relation
RU - Keeper
P-Wagons
- CIM/RIP
- RIV
Contractual part
mandatory
mandatory
- UIC leaflet 433
mandatory
- Contract of
Registration
Single status for Wagons
- RU CUV
general rules
+ general contract
ex GCU
or indiv. Contract
- OTIF-non EU:
Safety
&
Technical
Rules
J.L. Dosquet
- RIV
- RIV
Technical part
mandatory
- UIC leaflets
mandatory
Technical part
mandatory
- UIC leaflets
mandatory
The new railway environment
- RU CUV + CUU
- RU ATMF
- RU APTU
- EU:
- Directives
- TSIs (WAG, TAF,..)
- ENs
01.12.2010
EU Laws
3
UIC, UIP and ERFA work together to develop the General
Contract of Use for Freight Wagons „GCU“
• The GCU has entered into force on
July 1st 2006
•The
Market
players
have
demonstrated with the GCU that they
can organize themselves in an open
market in areas where cooperation is
advantageous.
• The Assocations are playing a key
role in this process. They are the
„guardian“ of the GCU.
• The EU Commission and ERA
attach great value to the GCU as a
vector for the flexible and concrete
implementation of the new wagon
environment
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
4
The GCU provides a multilateral contractual framework
for the use of wagons
The General Contract of Use for wagons (GCU)
• is a multilateral contractual framework based on the CUV (Appendix D of
the COTIF 99) for the use of wagons in national and international traffic,
based on private law.
• contains all relevant mutual rights and obligations of railway undertakings
and wagon keepers regarding the use of wagons (except part of annex 9)
• saves the parties of the contract the need of negotiating numerous bilateral
agreements thereby ensuring wagon interoperability in a liberalized
European rail market
• can be complemented flexibly by other contractual arrangements if
necessary
Commercial conditions for the use of wagons are not included
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
5
The Chapters of the GCU cover the whole range of
the relationship between RUs and Wagon Keepers
• CHAPTER I : OBJECT, SCOPE OF APPLICATION, TERMINATION, FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONTRACT,
DISCONTINUANCE OF BEING A SIGNATORY
• CHAPTER II : OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF THE WAGON KEEPER
• CHAPTER III : OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS OF THE RUs
• CHAPTER IV : ASCERTAINMENT AND HANDLING OF DAMAGE TO WAGONS IN THE CUSTODY OF AN RU
• CHAPTER V : LIABILITY IN THE EVENT OF LOSS OR OF DAMAGE TO A WAGON
• CHAPTER VI : LIABILITY IN THE EVENT OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY A WAGON
• CHAPTER VII : LIABILITY FOR STAFF AND OTHER PERSONS
• CHAPTER VIII : OTHER PROVISIONS
Download from website www.gcubureau.org
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
6
The 12 technical appendices of the GCU help the
day-to-day operational dealings
• Appendix 1: List of signatory keepers and RUs.
• Appendix 2 : Definitions
• Appendix 3 : Wagon note.
• Appendix 4 : Wagon damage report
• Appendix 5 : Method for calculating the residual value of a wagon
• Appendix 6 : Compensation for loss of use
• Appendix 7 : Spare parts
• Appendix 8 : Internal Regulation for the Application and Further Development of the GCU
• Appendix 9 : Conditions for the technical inspections for wagon handover
• Appendix 10 : Corrective and preventive maintenance
• Appendix 11 : Inscriptions and signs on wagons
• Appendix 12 : Catalogue of damage to wagons
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
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700
On April 1st 2010, the GCU counted 643 signatories, bringing
in more than 700.000 wagons (@ 90% of the freight wagons)
intoEurope)
On April 1 2010, 708.381 wagons declared
the GCU, of which @ 2/3 kept by RUs
st
626
600
568
643
586
500
436
Number
400
300
200
100
0
1/7/2006
J.L. Dosquet
1/7/2007
The new railway environment
1/7/2008
1/7/2009
01.12.2010
1/4/2010
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The 27 States in which the GCU is implemented
IS
FI
SE
NO
EE
IE
RU
LV
LT
DK
BY
GB
NL
BE
LU
FR
PL
DE
CZ
UA
SK
CH
FL
IT
AT
KZ
MD
HU
SI HR
MN
RO
BA RS
MC
ME
AL
PT
BG
AM
GR
TM
SY
CN
TJ
AF
LB
IQ
IR
IL
DZ
KG
AZ
TR
TN
MA
UZ
GE
MK
PK
JO
LY
EG
SA
IN
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
9
CASE Nr 1
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF A DAMAGE IS NOTICED TO A WAGON DURING
THE TRANSPORTATION ?
The respective roles of the Using RU, the Keeper and/or his entitled party
 Wagon damage report (art. 18.1 of the GCU)
 Putting the wagon back to running order (Article 19.1 of the GCU)
 Making the wagon fit for use again (Article 19.3 of the GCU)
 The threshold of 750 € (List of repairs under study)
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
10
CASE Nr 1 (ctd)
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF A DAMAGE IS NOTICED TO A WAGON DURING THE
TRANSPORTATION ?
The respective roles of the Using RU, the Keeper and/or his entitled party
 The proof of liability for the damage (Articles 22 and 24 of the GCU)
 The threshold of 750 € (List of repairs under study)
 Wagon under custody of an RU (Article 1.4 of the GCU)
(When does the custody of the wagon begin and when is it finished ?)
 Obligation to mitigate losses (Article 25 of the GCU)
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
11
CASE Nr 2
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF A DAMAGE IS NOTICED TO A WAGON AFTER ARRIVAL OR AT
A PRIVATE SIDING ?
The respective roles of the Using RU, the Keeper and/or his entitled party
 Reservations made by the consignee → Case Nr 1
 No reservation made by the consignee
 → The wagon is no longer under custody of the RU (art. 1.4 of the GCU)
 → Reversal the onus of proof (art 24.2 of the GCU)
 → Repair negotiated by the keeper with a service provider
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
12
CASE Nr 3
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF MY WAGON CAUSES
AN ACCIDENT OR DAMAGES ?
The respective roles of the Using RU, the Keeper and/or his entitled party
PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES
 Principle of liability : responsabillity of the the keeper when hat fault
 But a fault of the keeper should be brought –by the RU - to activate this responsibility.
 The RU must inform the keeper that his wagon in involved
 Less significant damages (threshold of 17.000 €) (Article 27.4 of the GCU)
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
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For further information you may contact:
Thank you for your attention
The UIP:
Avenue Herrmann Debroux 15A
B – 1160 Bruxelles
Tel: +32 2 672 88 47
Fax: +32 2 672 81 14
Email: [email protected]
J.L. Dosquet
The new railway environment
01.12.2010
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