Eastern Europe folklore, harvested for posterity by the romantic writers of the 19th century, is characterized by a prevailing rural population living in small, often isolated, settlements. Plundered by military forces organized by outlandish powers or internal disorders and attacks, the communities of this area find their refuge in the woods or marshes. But what really saves them is the poor infrastructure which becomes a trap for both travellers and invaders in rainy days.
Present times are not that different from this image, at least for some territories part of the Wider Black Sea Area. Whether inside the European Union, or at its suburbs, infrastructure and the quality of passenger railway services are still marking the daily existence of mobility-deprived, self-oriented communities, grateful for the leftovers of the mighty ones.
Fully contradicting the European philosophy of providing mobility to all social, age and health categories, transport services in the eastern area are often defined by exclusion and ostracism. Although we often talk about urbanising the East, basic elements that represent the urban area are not mastered or are pushed aside by those who should define the content of the mandatory public service.
The fracture between the urbanised West, crossed by railway networks that offer both high quality public services and commercial services and the East urbanised only on paper, crossed by dusty roads and damaged railways, becomes more visible every day. The fact that the citizens’ needs are not fully grasped results in railway public services with highly polluting vehicles and enormous operating costs, vehicles that don’t provide the minimum comfort and accessibility (high wagons that don’t match the platforms, poorly divided interiors not suited for permanently or temporarily disabled people, untidy sleeping coaches etc.).
But in the meantime, it is claimed the intention of making incumbent operators profitable, which is in fact only a smoke screen aimed to conceal their retreat off the rail transport market and the stimulation of alternative transport systems whose safety, comfort and why not, taxation, are more than doubtful.
At times when the EU struggles to improve the legal framework for public service obligations, some East-European territories destroy these services to take responsibility off their shoulders. Lucky that people are still used to being self-sufficient and going back to the woods.
by Ştefan Roşeanu
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