▶ The current government wants to take the competitively tendered Southern PSO rail package away from an independent operator and award it directly to the state-owned operator Vy.

▶ That is, despite mandatory competitive tendering since last year.

The so-called “exceptional circumstance” used to justify this brand-new direct award is the (alleged) urgent need to “rethink” the structure of Public Service Obligation (PSO) packages in Norway, during the transition period before liberalisation.  

But it makes no sense to transition from direct awards to competitive tendering by … replacing a competitive tender with a direct award.

Furthermore, the “urgent” need to re-think the structure of the packages in Norway is clearly so very urgent that the government has given the Railway Directorate until 2026 to conclude its analysis.  

In the meantime, the government says it must secure the passenger traffic in the Southern package and hence award it directly to Vy…   

▶ … at the same time, state-owned incumbent Vy uses these directly awarded “profits” to compete elsewhere in Europe.

ALLRAIL’s Secretary General Nick Brooks states: “Exceptional circumstances, as foreseen in regulation, arise only when it is not feasible for an independent company to operate the service.

Yet, there is already one operating the Southern Package – so the justification is clearly nonsense.”   

▶ Evidence shows that rail liberalisation benefits European society.

▶ But, with a rail policy in Norway based upon false premises, the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) must now act – to prevent a miscarriage of justice. ­