The RAILPAG (Railway Project Appraisal Guidelines) aim at providing a common framework for the appraisal of railway projects across the EU. They are the result of a similar harmonisation exercise as that carried out under TINA (Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment) for transport projects in general in the Accession countries in 1999. The TINA Guidelines were adopted by the UN-ECE1 in 2003. The guidelines have been prepared following an initiative of the European Investment Bank. The EIB has received financial support from the European Commission (DGTREN) and technical support from experts representing DGTREN, other international financial institutions (IFIs) and the key associations of the rail industry, integrated in a Steering Committee. This report has mainly been carried out by the services of the EIB and has benefitted from some background work carried out by CENIT, Center for Innovation in Transport of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, and Dr. Nils Bruzelius. This report is intended to be the first step towards a comprehensive harmonised methodology for appraisal of rail investments in the EU and, eventually, in countries of the European Neighbourhood area. To further develop this framework, the EIB will continue to work closely with the European Commission, the other institutions that have participated in this exercise and other interested parties. EIB will maintain an internet site (www.railpag.com) where updated versions of the Guidelines and new appraisal tools as well as other relevant documents, on-going research and comments will be posted. The objective is to achieve, in the medium term, a consensus on a harmonised detailed appraisal procedure that would be used by project promoters to present their projects to the European Commission and to the IFIs for funding and, eventually, by planning services of public administration, rail infrastructure managers, rail companies and their consultants as a continuously updated reference to guide their appraisal work.