Railway transport plays an important role on the European Union agenda and it is the transport mode most promoted in Europe because it is a key element of multimodal transport, of mobility and sustainability. We can also notice the European concern for the railway sector if we take a look at the White Paper on Transport in 2011 through which the European Commission launched several challenges for the profile industry, namely to carry out 30% of the freight transport on medium distances by 2030 and 50% by 2050.
“I believe the recast of the First Railway Package next to Regulation 913/2010 on establishing the freight corridors represent two important parts of the European legislation being already adopted and under development. The TEN-T strategy and the “Connecting Europe” Facility complete the two legislative proposals in supporting the European railway sector”, declared Jean – Eric Paquet, Director European Mobility Network – DG MOVE, during the Railway Days Summit organised by Club Feroviar and the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF) in October in Bucharest.
However, the figures we have on the modal split and carried volumes of railway transport reveal that railway transport is not growing as it should. The modal split of railway freight transport for EU27 is slightly decreasing, as well as that of passenger transport.
The DG MOVE representative underlined that there was a discrepancy between the policy of the European Commission and what was really happening in the railway transport market or in the railway industry. Therefore, the DG MOVE representative believes, national railway authorities are now expected to act, as well as national go-vernments and the operators that provide rail transport services.
There is also a clear discrepancy between the sums that the governments of West-European countries and those of South-European countries allocate for investments and maintenance. Railway transport needs a new approach. “We have to analyse the current organisation of railways and to focus on coordination. Therefore, it is necessary to consider four key aspects: integration, infrastructure, regulation and innovation.
The regulation of legislation and the harmonisation of technical specifications are extremely important for the good operation of a single cross-border transport.
Access to the transport market for new entrants is not easy at all inside the Union and in Romania either. We have to make sure that we have independent infrastructure managers and that they work for the benefit of all operators so that everything will go on as it should”, believes Paquet.
He then referred to the Fourth Railway Package, the most important legislative action in Europe currently under debate and whose implementation could take around five years”.
Interoperability is important, as well as eliminating administrative barriers. “There are too many national laws in force, over 12,000, and this makes cross-border interoperability difficult. We still see the national side of railway transport. That is why we need to set up the Single European Railway Area and we also need to change mentalities and to approach railway transport from the European, rather than national perspective, as it has happened so far. National laws fragment the European railway market”, concluded Jean Eric Paquet.
Share on:
