Article 28 — Capacity rights

1. Applicants may apply to the infrastructure manager, pursuant to public or private law, in order to request an agreement granting railway infrastructure capacity rights against a charge as provided for in Chapter IV, Section 2 of Directive 2012/34/EU. Infrastructure managers shall allocate railway infrastructure capacity rights to applicants in the form of one of the following: (a) capacity specifications; (b) train paths. ENIM shall define the characteristics of capacity specifications and include those in the European framework for capacity management. 2. Infrastructure managers shall convert the capacity rights allocated in the form of a capacity specification into capacity rights in the form of a train path prior to the actual train run in accordance with the deadlines set out in Sections 4, 5 and 6 of Annex I. 3. Capacity rights in the form of a train path may be granted to applicants for a maximum duration of one working timetable period. Capacity rights in the form of a capacity specification may be allocated for a duration exceeding one working timetable period in accordance with Articles 33 and 35. 4. Unless otherwise specified in this Regulation, the respective rights and obligations of infrastructure managers and applicants in respect of any capacity allocation shall be laid down in contracts or in national law. 5. Once allocated to an applicant, a capacity right shall not be transferred by the recipient to another undertaking or service. Any form of transfer shall lead to exclusion from the further capacity allocation during the current working timetable period and the following one. The use of capacity by a railway undertaking when carrying out the business of an applicant which is not a railway undertaking shall not be considered as a transfer. An applicant which is not a railway undertaking shall inform the infrastructure manager, at least 10 days before the use of the capacity, which railway undertaking will use the capacity. That information shall include evidence of the railway undertaking’s acceptance. 6. Where an applicant intends to request railway infrastructure capacity with a view to operating a passenger service in a Member State where the right of access to railway infrastructure is limited in accordance with Article 11 of Directive 2012/34/EU, it shall inform the infrastructure managers and the regulatory bodies concerned no less than 18 months before the entry into force of the working timetable to which the request for capacity relates. In order to enable the regulatory bodies concerned to assess the potential economic impact on existing public service contracts, regulatory bodies shall ensure that any competent authority that has awarded a rail passenger service on that route defined in a public service contract, any other interested competent authority with the right to limit access under Article 11 of Directive 2012/34/EU and any railway undertaking performing the public service contract on the route of that passenger service is informed without undue delay and at the latest within 10 days.