Transport ministers of eight EU countries located along the Orient East-Med Corridor signed a declaration on 21st June 2016 on the initiative of TEN-T Coordinator Mathieu Grosch.
An important part of the “Joint ministerial declaration on effective improvements to eliminate bottlenecks and facilitate international traffic on the Orient/East-Med Rail Freight Corridor” is the “action programme” that contains concrete proposals and measurements that shall be implemented within the coming months.
The declaration has been signed by all countries among the Orient/East-Med Corridor, which stretches from the North of Germany, south-eastwards through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, to the Southern coast of Greece.
The main goals of the measurements the transport ministers agreed upon by signing the Declaration are to improve punctuality and average transit times between the countries for freight trains, as well as to increase the corridor’s attractiveness, transport potential and competitiveness.
Coordinator Grosch proposed the significant reduction of average border crossing times to a maximum of two hours of waiting, which is targeted within the declaration until July 2018. Therefore, an in-depth analysis on possible reasons will identify e.g. technical, operational and administrative rules causing avoidable waiting times on the border until 31st December 2016, and the results need to be implemented thereafter.
Share on:
