At the end of March, the Union of European Railway Industries (UNIFE), the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the Association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) issued a joint paper “A sustainable future for transport” through which the rail sector asks the decision makers to elaborate a sustainable, efficient and customer-oriented transport policy.
To this end, the associations support the implementation of a set of principles which define a better development of the European transport market. The transport system must provide customers with the best possible mobility choice. This applies both to passenger and freight transport. Better integration of the different transport modes will improve the overall efficiency of the transport system. Concrete and overall emission reduction targets should be set for the transport sector as a whole. These would provide a clear and measurable goal for transport policy. Policy measures should be assessed in the light of their contribution towards this goal. Internalisation of external costs is key to reducing emissions from transport and to tackling climate change. The ‘polluter pays principle’ needs to apply to all modes of transport and would level the playing field between modes, the associations believe. “It is important that the main priority of the European Parliament members is adapting transport infrastructure to the challenges generated by climate change. We are also satisfied with the fact that the Parliament focuses on the need to charge transport external costs based on the ‘polluter pays principle’. The revision of the Eurovignette will generate equal competition between transport modes and will help railway sector in the development of an environmentally friendly transport system”, declared Matthew Ledbury, Environment Adviser CER. Increasing national and European investment in rail infrastructure is of primary importance. Investment should be designed to promote decarbonisation and should foster a shift to sustainable modes, in particular from road to rail for freight and from air to high speed rail for passenger transport – with the final objective of creating a highly performing network that meets customers’ needs. Liberalisation of the rail sector as part of an overall successful transport policy is one of the key driving forces for improving the quality of services and choice for customers. Liberalisation will make the rail sector more efficient and will improve its ability to compete with other modes. “An analysis of the European Commission data shows that market liberalisation is a necessary, yet insufficient measure for the balanced development of the European railway transport”, CER Executive Director Johannes Ludewig declared during his meeting with Henrik Hololei, head of the private office of Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for Transport. The associations also demand the establishment of independent and strong regulatory bodies in all member states that should monitor the market and ensure that all operators are not discriminated against. Experience has shown that liberalisation alone, for example, when not pursued together with an adequate financing of public service contracts and infrastructure, has not always delivered the expected positive results. The White Paper on Transport of 2001 outlines the key elements of a successful transport policy: adequate financing of public service contracts and of infrastructure, fair intermodal conditions and market opening. The proposals made in the White Paper require a coherent and balanced implementation throughout the European Union in order to be successful. For improved transport efficiency, innovative and environmentally friendly transport technology solutions must be developed and implemented. For rail transport this includes new interoperable technologies, such as ERTMS, which should be deployed along the EU’s railway network. Special measures should be taken to overcome the technology gap between Western Europe and CEE countries, the three associations believe. Transparency of principles and procedures (for example, track access or establishing charging schemes) should be promoted, as well as international cooperation and coordination of infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, member states and, of course, regulatory bodies. “We appreciate the fact that the European Parliament has correlated the adaptation of climate change with reducing its effects, prioritizing modal shift and the internalisation of external costs. These two alternatives should represent the foundation of the future European transport strategy”, declared Leonardo Dongiovanni, Political Advisor EIM.
by Elena Ilie
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