The deregulation of the Swedish rail transport market and introduction of several operators competing for train paths has fundamentally affected the demands on the capacity allocation process. As a consequence this process is facing radical change in the near future. The demands and their consequences for the future are analysed in this paper. The analysis proceeds from a set of identified requirements typically posed by rail transport customers and service operators. A simple mathematical framework in which these requirements can be formalised is defined and methods for conflict detection and resolution are discussed.