# CE2004065EN.01015801.xml

| 13.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 65/158 |
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13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 65/158

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(2004/C 65 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2459/03

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 July 2003)

Subject:   Southern European rail network

Subject:

It emerges from recent studies state that the proportion of goods transported by rail in Europe fell from 21 % to 8,1 % over the period 1970-2000. The beneficiary has been the road haulage sector, which offers a number of advantages over rail, including greater convenience of delivery.

Under Articles 154 and 155 of the EC Treaty, it is incumbent on the Community to contribute to the establishment and development of trans-European transport networks.

As rail is by far the more environment-friendly transport means, the Commission has committed itself to revitalising the rail sector under the Union's common transport policy.

What measures are being taken to ensure the future of rail freight over the Pyrenees?

What measures are being taken to ensure that the Pyrenees rail freight service is competitive with other modes of transport, especially road haulage?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2003)

(12 September 2003)

Revitalising rail freight is a real necessity throughout the Union and is one of the key priorities of the Union's common transport policy. The Union is anxious to create an integrated railway area in which rail transport can once again become efficient and competitive, especially for freight. Its new initiatives and measures already being applied are serving to integrate the national rail systems. This integration hinges on developing the interoperability of the high-speed and conventional rail systems, a particularly important objective given the very different characteristics of the existing Spanish and French networks.

Accordingly, in a bid to make rail freight more attractive the Community is helping to finance projects which will increase the capacity of the lines linking the Iberian peninsula to the rest of Europe via the Pyrenees. In particular, the Community has provided support from the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) budget, equivalent to 10 % of the overall project cost, for building the Perpignan-Figueras section of the new standard European gauge line which will link Barcelona and its region to the French network. This new line, which will be open to use by both freight and passenger trains, should come into service in 2008-2009 and will allow significant time gains at the border by precluding the need to change axles there.

Priority project No 3 (TGV South), of which the Perpignan-Figueras section forms one part, also involves an upgrading of the line on French territory, between Perpignan, Montpellier and Nîmes, the studies for which are also being co-financed from the TEN-T budget. A new line is due to be built on this route by 2015, and this will free up major capacity — especially for freight trains — on the existing line.

The Commission would further point out that the priority TEN-T projects it has proposed also include the central rail crossing of the Pyrenees and the Iberian high-speed network. Parliament has already approved this proposal at first reading.

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