The Scientific Advisory Council of Germany's Federal Minister for Transport, the Building/Construction Industry and Housing has issued a statement about the stipulated future tasks in relation to the rail transport policy. The focal point is a viable separation of the rail network and the railway's transport tasks. The technical and organizational peculiarities of the railway system are given due consideration while, at the same time, aspects of market demand are taken into account in the context of free access to the rail network. Special attention is paid to the nterface regulatory framework, the creation of a working timetable, the allocation of time slots, a proper supervision of rail operations and a guaranteed quality of the proposed services on offer. Also addressed are the tasks determined by a future transport policy. By taking into account the distinct peculiarities of the railway system, the Advisory Council in principle maintains that the separation of the rail network and railway's transport tasks is a reasonable target and also workable from a technical and organizational aspect.