Article 2 — General responsibilities and principles

1. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the management independence of infrastructure managers set out in Article 4 of Directive 2012/34/EU. 2. Without prejudice to Article 7c of Directive 2012/34/EU, infrastructure managers shall be responsible for the management of railway infrastructure capacity and rail traffic management. References to an infrastructure manager in all provisions related to railway infrastructure capacity allocation in this Regulation shall be construed as references to the allocation body referred in Article 7a(3) of Directive 2012/34/EU. 3. With a view to facilitating the provision of efficient and effective railway infrastructure capacity and traffic management within the Union, infrastructure managers referred to in Article 58(3) shall cooperate within the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM) referred to in Article 7f of Directive 2012/34/EU and in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation on cooperation. 4. In fulfilling their tasks and responsibilities in accordance with this Regulation, infrastructure managers shall: (a) make optimum effective use of the available railway infrastructure through effective planning and coordination with the aim of increasing the share of rail transport relative to other transport modes, both for passenger and freight services, in accordance with the Union’s climate targets; (b) maximise the value to society of rail transport services enabled by railway infrastructure in social, economic and environmental terms; (c) ensure non-discriminatory management of railway infrastructure capacity and equitable and transparent access thereto, including during railway infrastructure works, with a view to enabling fair competition and with the aim of guaranteeing the optimal competitiveness of rail services; (d) enable seamless rail traffic across more than one network and across borders by striving to eliminate bottlenecks and operational obstacles; (e) ensure transparency about the state and availability of railway infrastructure capacity; (f) review and improve the performance of railway infrastructure in close cooperation with operational stakeholders; (g) contribute to the implementation and development of the single European railway area, in particular through common European technical and operational rules and standards.