News
BackSince the 80ies, the European Commission has tried to liberalise European Rail transport, thereby opening it also to private enterprises. The intention was to provide a better range of services for passenger and freight transport and to improve quality. The result after 3 liberalisation packages: the share of rail freight transport remains small; the share of road freight transport is even rising. The service quality of passenger transport has not improved; instead the prices of some railway tickets have risen significantly.
The Commission official also criticised the failure to implement the Railway Packages in the EU27. Their failure to implement the rules from the 3 Railway Packages had brought 13 Member States before the European Court of Justice. The conduct of 9 further countries in this matter was still under review.
With its current revision of the so-called First Railway Package, the Commission wanted to improve access to freight and passenger rail transport. The Commission had not planned to liberalise national passenger rail transport because this would also concern complex regional issues. The independence of the regulative authority had to be strengthened.
MEP Mathieu Grosch of the European People's Party criticised that the problem of interoperability had still not been solved. With regard to the infrastructure, financing would be the be all and end all. There were, however, currently Member States, which used European funds to finance an infrastructure, which would run counter to interoperability. It should also be recognized that the most expensive system was not the exactly the worst one; Member States, which did not comply with the Railway Packages, did not necessarily have the most inefficient rail transport.
The Belgium MEP Saïd El Khadraoui of the Social Democrats criticised that there were huge differences in infrastructure. Just to back the market, was not a solution. Apart from that, he was in favour of the Commission investigating, which effects the opening of national passenger transport would have. It would be important to review in particular the impact on passengers.
Michael Cramer, MEP of the Greens wanted a clear separation of network and operation. He urged the Commission to have a closer look at the highly different charges for using the German routes.
Director General Ruete commented in reaction to the remarks of the MEPs that the creators of the railway infrastructure should quickly adjust to the requirements of interoperability. It could happen in the not too distance future that operators from third countries, such as China had more modern facilities to offer, which would be better equipped to fulfil the requirements of the Railway Packages. Regulatory authorities should improve their cooperation. Ruete commented in respect of infrastructure financing that the EU would spend 60 % of the funds available for the Trans-European networks on rail transport. However, this pot was not exactly filled to the rim. Interesting was the comment that Ruete made en passant: of about € 80 billion for transport projects within the scope of regional policy, only € 25 - 26 billion were spent on rail transport. There was only one way for Member States that did not comply with the so far adopted Railway Packages and that was the way to the European Court of Justice, said Matthias Ruete in his final remarks.
Further information on the revision of the First Railway Package (partly only available in English)
Even the Commission had to admit that the targets with regard to rail transport had not been achieved: a different picture concerning the development of rail freight transport emerged between 2000 and 2007 - during this period, the volume in Greece rose by 90 percent, whilst it fell by 70 percent in Ireland. According to the Director General for Mobility and Transport, Matthias Ruete, the share of rail freight transport in transport overall has been rising continuously and has now stabilised at a very low level. The share in private enterprises, which are involved in rail freight transport, would vary: Estonia had the largest share with 50 %, followed by Great Britain with 45 %; the share in Austria is 15 %.
With the recent publication of the review of the First Railway Package, the Commission intends to change tack. There would be three important issues, where action needed to be taken:
With the recent publication of the review of the First Railway Package, the Commission intends to change tack. There would be three important issues, where action needed to be taken:
- Gaining access to the rail transport market was still relatively difficult. This segment was still lacking in transparency. The infrastructure charges were still based on different tariffs: some would get discounts, others would not. Apart from that, not all market participants had the same access to freight stations and similar; moreover, there would not be any alternatives. Concerning passenger transport, the purchase of tickets was not exactly straight forward.
- The regulatory authorities were short of staff and did not have sufficient competencies to supervise infrastructure operators, which would enable them to prevent disadvantages for new market participants. Furthermore, in many Member States these authorities were joined to ministries.
- Ruete also mentioned the quality of infrastructure as being important; but, it was regressing in many Member States. However, quality was of vital importance to persuade market participants to use rail transport services. This situation was a result of the lack of clarity with regard infrastructure financing rules. The infrastructure charges between the Member States were greatly different.
The Commission official also criticised the failure to implement the Railway Packages in the EU27. Their failure to implement the rules from the 3 Railway Packages had brought 13 Member States before the European Court of Justice. The conduct of 9 further countries in this matter was still under review.
With its current revision of the so-called First Railway Package, the Commission wanted to improve access to freight and passenger rail transport. The Commission had not planned to liberalise national passenger rail transport because this would also concern complex regional issues. The independence of the regulative authority had to be strengthened.
MEP Mathieu Grosch of the European People's Party criticised that the problem of interoperability had still not been solved. With regard to the infrastructure, financing would be the be all and end all. There were, however, currently Member States, which used European funds to finance an infrastructure, which would run counter to interoperability. It should also be recognized that the most expensive system was not the exactly the worst one; Member States, which did not comply with the Railway Packages, did not necessarily have the most inefficient rail transport.
The Belgium MEP Saïd El Khadraoui of the Social Democrats criticised that there were huge differences in infrastructure. Just to back the market, was not a solution. Apart from that, he was in favour of the Commission investigating, which effects the opening of national passenger transport would have. It would be important to review in particular the impact on passengers.
Michael Cramer, MEP of the Greens wanted a clear separation of network and operation. He urged the Commission to have a closer look at the highly different charges for using the German routes.
Director General Ruete commented in reaction to the remarks of the MEPs that the creators of the railway infrastructure should quickly adjust to the requirements of interoperability. It could happen in the not too distance future that operators from third countries, such as China had more modern facilities to offer, which would be better equipped to fulfil the requirements of the Railway Packages. Regulatory authorities should improve their cooperation. Ruete commented in respect of infrastructure financing that the EU would spend 60 % of the funds available for the Trans-European networks on rail transport. However, this pot was not exactly filled to the rim. Interesting was the comment that Ruete made en passant: of about € 80 billion for transport projects within the scope of regional policy, only € 25 - 26 billion were spent on rail transport. There was only one way for Member States that did not comply with the so far adopted Railway Packages and that was the way to the European Court of Justice, said Matthias Ruete in his final remarks.
Further information on the revision of the First Railway Package (partly only available in English)