93.  In this Chapter we draw together and summarise the recommendations that we have made in this Report.

94.  The Commission must first and foremost ensure that the First Railway Package is fully implemented across the EU-15. The 10 new Member States may need longer to implement the legislation but the Commission should work with them to ensure compliance as soon as possible (para 68).

95.  The Commission must maintain pressure on Member States to ensure they implement this package (para 79).

96.  Further consideration should be given to requiring Member States to put rail infrastructure and freight operations into separate companies (para 24).

97.  We accept that the requirement that rail freight operators should be at arms length from the infrastructure managers and that their funding should be completely transparent may be the best alternative to complete separation. But we believe it is important that track access should be regulated and appeals concerning the conduct of the infrastructure manager should be heard by an independent regulator (para 81).

98.  We believe that the relevant legislation should be amended to make it clear that each Member State requires an independent rail freight regulator, independent from the government, with appropriate powers and resources and tasked with ensuring fair and open assess to the rail freight market (para 84).

99.  The French two-part tariff system needs to be abolished. We hope that the Commission will ensure that the French government abolish it as soon as possible (para 74).

100.  Implementation throughout Europe of a charging system reflecting the full costs of road freight transport is urgently needed to ensure that rail is able to compete with road on equal terms (para 48).

101.  We urge the rail network managers of the European Union Member States to give greater priority to international freight in the allocation of paths over the network (para 50).

102.  The Government of the United Kingdom's first priority in relation to rail freight must be to implement fully the First Railway Package as soon as possible (para 85).

103.  The Government must continue to work with the rail freight industry to identify those rail routes that still require an upgraded loading gauge (para 92).

104.  We urge the United Kingdom Government to continue to resist requirement of a full international rail drivers' licence for all train drivers (para 54).

105.  We recommend that Regulation COM (2004) 144 should permit an opt-out from a compulsory compensation regime and that the United Kingdom Government should support this recommendation (para 33).

106.  We urge the Government to work with the French government to ensure fair and open access through the Channel Tunnel (para 90).

107.  Given the complex contractual position surrounding the Channel Tunnel, the issue of compliance with the First Railway Package in respect of the Channel Tunnel is itself a complex one, but one which the British and French governments need to address if international rail freight services between the United Kingdom and continental Europe are to meet the needs of British industry and commerce (para 65).

108.  A way needs to be found urgently of securing competitive access charges to the Channel Tunnel so that the rail freight industry as a whole can compete on equal terms with the freight ferry industry across the Channel (para 66).

109.  We applaud the Rail Net Europe initiative and the European Bull alliance. We hope that the Commission and the United Kingdom Government will do all that they can to help them to succeed (para 78).