Fourth Railway Package

The fourth railway package is a set of changes to rail transport regulation in the European Union law. It covers standards and authorisation for rolling stock; workforce skills; independent management of infrastructure; and the liberalisation of domestic passenger services in an attempt to reduce European rail subsidies.
Background.
The fourth railway package attempts to reform railways companies (whether private or public) that are able to raise prices if they dominate both tracks and the trains. Because of scepticism in most countries about the value of liberalisation, the package permits tracks and trains to be owned by a single holding company. The "compliance verification clause" could allow regulators to place sanctions on parts of a vertically integrated rail business which place obstacles in the way of competitors trying to provide services on their network; this would improve competition.
Responsibility for authorising rolling stock to use a network would be shifted away from network owners and towards the European Railway Agency. This is expected to be faster and cheaper. 
In 2015, the technical and political pillars of the package were accepted by EU transport ministers and currently the European Commission, Parliament and Council are negotiating to reach an agreement on the text of the regulations. The technical pillar of the fourth railway package has been adopted by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament in April 2016.