WRITTEN QUESTION E-2852/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 October 2001)

Subject: Light-rail tunnels left unused in European cities owing to financial difficulties and competition rules

1. Is the Commission aware that many European towns and cities closed their tram networks between the 1930s and 1960s to make way for the motor car, and that much hard work has been done during the past few decades to reinstate former, extend existing and build new urban rail networks for conventional trams, high-speed trams, metros and regional railways, so that towns and cities remain liveable in terms of the environment, land use and accessibility, and is it also aware that substantial investments have been made and are still being made in this field?

2. Is it also aware that in a number of European towns and cities, including Seville (Andalusia, Spain) and Charleroi (Wallonia, Belgium), metro tunnels were completed some time ago but have not been used because the money for laying tracks, the purchase of rolling stock and paying staff ran out, so that public transport still takes the form of slow, low-capacity buses which have to share roads with heavy traffic made up of private cars?

3. Is it alarmed that costly large-scale urban rail infrastructure already in use risks being abandoned, as it has in Ludwigshafen (Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany), where principal tram route 12 (ex 48) between the suburbs of Rheingönheim and Oppau, which runs through a specially built metro-type tunnel skirting the north side of the city centre and serving the Hauptbahnhof, Danzigerplatz and Rathaus stops, has been reduced to a peak-hours only route since 10 June 2001?

4. Can it confirm that cost-cutting in preparation for the competition that is looming in connection with application of the rules for the putting out to tender of public transport services in the European Union is the reason for the closure of this formerly principal tram route in Ludwigshafen for most of the day?

5. If financial problems and European rules are impeding the building, introduction, bringing into service and continued operation of urban rail links, what does the Commission propose to do to foster the successful development of urban rail transport and to help improve its competitiveness vis-à-vis bus transport, whose performance in towns and cities is becoming increasingly inadequate?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(29 November 2001)

The Commission is not aware of any instances of cities reducing their use of urban rail infrastructure in order to lower their expenditure in anticipation of European legislative requirements, or any aspect of draft legislation that would require them to do so.

The Commission agrees that urban rail systems, including light rail and metro, have a vital role to play in bringing about a significant reduction in car use and an increased use of public transport. This is supported by evidence from cities that have introduced or upgraded such rail systems.

In order to promote the competitiveness of urban rail systems, the Commission is proposing a Regulation(1) on public service contracts in public passenger transport. This will require competent authorities who wish to award exclusive rights or financial compensation to public transport operators to put in place contracts and, in most cases, to award these contracts following a competitive tendering procedure. This system of controlled competition has been shown to bring about increased passenger numbers and improved efficiency, thereby improving competitiveness.

In addition, and as set out in the recent common transport policy White Paper(2), the Commission proposes to support the overall improvement of urban transport. In particular, the White Paper sets out that the Commission will provide funding for innovative towns and cities (for example, a number of the participants in the Civitas initiative are improving their light rail systems) and identify and disseminate good practice (for example: many participants in the citizen's network benchmarking programme have or are planning to introduce urban rail systems).

(1) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.

(2) COM(2001) 370 final.