Rail Freight Corridor North Sea – Baltic was established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22nd September 2010 concerning a European rail network for competitive freight, which entered into force on the 9th of November 2010. The Regulation lays down rules for the establishment and organization of international rail freight corridors (RFCs) with a view to the development of a European rail network for competitive freight.

The Regulation provides for the implementation of corridors allowing freight trains to benefit from high quality routes, offering better services (in terms of punctuality and journey time) than at present. The principal guidelines specified by the Regulation focus on:

• establishing a Corridor One-Stop-Shop;
• closer cooperation and harmonization between infrastructure managers/allocation bodies and member states both for the operational management of the infrastructure and for investments, in particular by putting in place a governance structure for each corridor;
• increased coordination with terminals (maritime and inland ports and marshalling yards);
• providing the reliability of the infrastructure capacities allocated to international freight on these corridors;
• close cooperation with clients.