In 2008, European transport ministers from the countries transited by Corridor E decided to accept its extension to Romania. The letter of intent for the establishment of the Corridor’s borders was initially signed in 2007 by the ministers of transport from Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Later on, in October 2008, they accepted the extension of Corridor E to Constanţa, the largest port in South-Eastern Europe. Therefore, Corridor E „Dresden – Prague – Budapest/Vienna – Constanţa” doubled its length, reaching to approx. 5400 km of rail, of which 800 km are located on Romanian territory.
Together with the other five corridors (mainly freight transport) which should be equipped with ERTMS by 2020, Corridor E includes several traditional routes which link North Sea ports with Black Sea ports; these routes were the first routes created in Central Europe. Dresden-Budapest, for instance, was finalized in 1851.
The EU member states transited by Corridor E have recognized its importance for freight transport and for the development of the logistics chain along the Corridor and have presented their national plans for ERTMS implementation. They promised to install the ERTMS system on major sections of the Corridor by 2015. This should also cover Romania’s main connection with the Hungarian border (Lökösháza-Curtici), via Braşov and Bucharest to Constanţa.
European organisations bet on freight corridors
On April 23, 2009, the European Parliament approved a law draft which creates the Transport network for freight transport competitiveness, which includes all the six freight corridors. The adoption of this law draft is important for the rail freight transport sector because the six corridors will connect, by rail, at least two countries, therefore being part of the TEN-T network. Hence, the Corridor IV section (which transits Romania west to east and which shares the same route as Corridor E) will have to be modernised in order to increase freight transport. On this section, the trains which carry dangerous cargo will have priority in traffic. The initiators of this project outlined the fact that, at present, railway transport is lacking an integrated system and this causes delays, additional costs and the insufficient use of the overall capacity of freight transport.
“ERTMS implementation has paved the way towards an integrated approach on interoperability and railway safety in Europe, including the six freight corridors”, said Paolo Costa, Vice-President of the European Parliament’s Transport Commission, during an interview for ERTMS Signal.
During 2007-2013, Hungarian railway transport companies MÁV and GySEV announced that they plan to install ETCS Level 2 on more than 800 km of mail line. The number 1 priority is the sections belonging to Corridor E. The Hungarian authorities plan to install ERTMS on the Szolnok – Békéscsaba – Lőkösháza section (115 km).Two other major projects for ERTMS implementation on Corridor E are currently under development. In 2008, they received a financing of EUR 21.78 Million, approx. 8% of the total amount of EUR 259.98 Million allocated for 17 ERTMS projects on the six corridors.
“All 6 corridors have submitted for financing at least one project for ERTMS implementation”, said Karel Vinck, European Commission’s ERTMS Coordinator.
According to a report published in 2009 in ERTMS Signal, the amounts allocated for ERTMS implementation in the countries transited by Corridor E are of approx. EUR 14 Million in Germany, 20 Million in the Czech Republic and approx. 18 Million in Austria. In Romania, ERTMS will be implemented through a pilot project on the Chitila-Crivina section, using funds allocated through non-reimbursable European financing (approx. EUR 258.6 Million).
“Additional efforts may be necessary in order to achieve an efficient approach of Corridor E, starting with the elaboration of a detailed cost-benefit analysis, based on the consolidated data”, explained Karel Vinck in a recent report.
Corridor E is coordinated by a steering group, made up of transport ministries, as well as a Management Committee, which involves both infrastructure managers and the main rail freight transport operators from the countries in question.
by Elena Ilie
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