The “Romanian Railway Summit 2010”, held during October 5 – 6, 2010 in Bucharest and organised by Club Feroviar and the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF), will analyse the major challenges of the railway business environment in the Wider Black Sea Area. Divided into several panel sessions, the conference will analyse every segment of the railway system (infrastructure, railway operators and urban transport). This summit aims at identifying the business opportunities in the Wider Black Sea Area, as well as the determining factors in the development of a single railway network and an efficient transport system.
“Railway traffic between Europe and Asia is growing. Out of all the modes of transport, railway transport is the fastest. Russia is very much interested in the railway transport sector in this region. During 2007 – 2020, railway transport in the Balkan Region and Turkey will increase by 65%, and in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova by 20%. In 2020, the market share will vary between 59% (Baltic Rim) and 9% (Balkans and Turkey). Eurasia Land Bridge offers an additional potential and the current problems will be overcome”, said Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director CER, during a conference organised by Club Feroviar and AIF in February 2010.
In this context, all the countries involved in railway activities in this region should identify viable solutions in order to provide real offers that could significantly increase railway traffic between Europe and Asia. “The best solution would be to invest in the railway infrastructure, but this system has to be improved in order to generate competitiveness”, added Ludewig.
Therefore, the construction and modernisation of Eurasian transport corridors represent the premises for increasing railway freight volumes. To that effect, the countries in the Wider Black Sea Area, together with other countries for which the Eurasian region is of real interest in terms of railway transport, elaborate strategies and sign international agreements for infrastructure modernisation, in order to provide a safe, efficient and quality transport. This will lead to economic growth, as well as the development of the business environment.
The development and modernisation of transport corridors also determined the implementation of several programmes between the countries interested and large international institutions, the signing of specific agreements for railway system optimization and the involvement of the private sector and large banks in terms of investments.
Main corridors will ensure a transport without frontiers
TRACECA or the “New Silk Road” is one of the main corridors linking Europe and Asia. This corridor was developed as an alternative to the Trans-Siberian northern route and it will be connected to all the transport networks in Europe. The implementation of the project will contribute to freight traffic optimization on the Europe-Caucasus-Asia axis.
To date, TRACECA helped finance many projects related to institutions, infrastructure, rolling stock, ports etc. So far, this programme is a success. It has contributed to a significant growth in transport volumes. That is why the TRACECA corridor will continue to be a priority for the European Commission.
The Trans-European Railway (TER) and the Trans-Asian railway (TAR) are also major transport corridors in the Eurasian region.
TER reunites 17 member states and 8 countries participate as observers. The elaboration of a TER Master Plan is very important to the future development of projects, as well as to the railway infrastructure and interoperability in Central and Eastern Europe. TER includes 172 projects, evaluated at over EUR 50 Billion, which focus on the elaboration of the feasibility studies for two main corridors: Baltic Sea/Black Sea/East Mediterranean Sea and Adriatic Sea/Baltic Sea, as well as the studies for service improvement on TER lines (Rijeka-Zagreb-Budapest-Bratislava-Warsaw-Gdansk). According to various scenarios, it has been estimated that, during 2000 – 2020, passenger transport will increase by 1.31%-2.55% per year, and freight transport by 2.57%-2.59% per year.
The Trans-Asian Railway (TAR), which aims at ensuring a rail link between Singapore and Turkey, through South-East Asia, to Pakistan and Iran, will link Europe and South-West Europe.
After a series of feasibility studies, the conclusion reached was that these procedures should become more formal, thus encouraging the parties involved to sign agreements.
TAR involves 28 countries and includes a railway network of thousands of kilometres, with a huge potential for international trade.
Another major project is the Marmaray link, which was built through the deepest underwater tunnel, underneath the Bosphorus strait. The total length of the line is of 76 km. The underwater tunnel is 1.4 km long and it will connect the two continents. Other tunnels will be 12.2 km long and the surface lines – which will be upgraded – will be 63 km long.
Officially announced in April 2010, the project for the Kosice-Vienna rail link will connect the Central European and the Trans-Siberian networks. Russia, Austria, Slovakia and Ukraine have signed the implementation agreement, which has an estimated value of EUR 4.7 Billion. By 2025, this line will carry approximately 42 million tonnes of freight per year. The line is expected to enter service in 2016.
by Pamela Luică
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