WRITTEN QUESTION E-3548/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(8 January 2002)

Subject: Obstruction of international rail journeys due to extremely high fares designed to cover a levy by the State of the Netherlands on a concessionaire

1. Is the Commission aware that, through a public auction in May 2001, a partnership comprising the rail company NS and the airline KLM acquired for 15 years from 1 October 2006 the exclusive right to operate domestic and international rail services on the new high-speed line Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Breda which is being linked to the existing Brussels-Paris line by means of a tunnel under the city of Antwerp in Belgium?

2. Is the Commission aware, furthermore, that NS/KLM are to pay EUR 148 million per annum for this, whereas competitors such as the German rail company DB and the British bus company Arriva offered less than EUR 100 m?

3. Bearing in mind that, until recently, the impression had been given that the fares charged to passengers on the new line would be of a normal level, with the possible addition of an express-service surcharge such as is also customary in other countries, does the Commission consider it to be normal, and an example worthy of emulation elsewhere, for the enormous payment to the State of the Netherlands to be financed by charging future passengers fares which will exceed the current normal level by an average of 50 %, and in the rush hour by as such as 100 %?

4. What view does the Commission take of the fact that this line is an additional facility for domestic traffic in the Netherlands, whose use may be restricted to a small, affluent category of travellers who are able and willing to pay large amounts for a parallel express service, whereas the justification for constructing this line was that it would provide a replacement for long-distance international services to and from Belgium and France?

5. After 2006, will the nearby parallel hourly service on the main line between the Netherlands and Belgium from Amsterdam to Brussels via Roosendaal and Antwerp be retained, with normal fares, in addition to this international service which will be extremely expensive for passengers, so as to avoid the creation of a monopoly accompanied by disproportionately high fares which in practice would constitute an inescapable new tax on international travel between two EU Member States?

Source: De Volkskrant, 5 December 2001

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(20 February 2002)

1. and 2. The Commission has been informed about the tendering procedure organised by the Dutch authorities for train services to be operated on the HogeSnelheidslijn (HSL)-Zuid(1) section in the Netherlands, for which the Commission provided funding within the framework of the Trans-European Transport Networks. The Commission has also been informed that the proposal submitted by a Consortium consisting of the Dutch operator Nederlandse spoorwegen (NS) and Royal Dutch Airlines KLM has been selected by the Dutch authorities as providing the best value for money. The Commission has not been informed or notified about the content of the other bids.

3. The tariff structure on the future high-speed link will be determined, amongst others, by a pre-defined service level (such as the availability of enough seats), which requires adaptation of the price level of the tickets. It will also be determined by infrastructure charges as provided for by Directive 2001/14/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification(2), which main purpose is to set a framework to charge users for the costs of construction, maintenance and use of the rail infrastructure. Further to Regulation (EEC) No 1191/69 of the Council of 26 June 1969 on action by Member States concerning the obligations inherent in the concept of a public service

in transport by rail, road and inland waterway(3), the Dutch authorities could include in its contract with the Railway Undertaking (i.e. NS/KLM) tariff reductions for specific groups, such as students or persons with reduced mobility, or even all passengers.

4. The Commission takes note of this fact, but can not express a view on it, on the basis of the information currently available.

5. The Commission does not have information on the future of the current services between Amsterdam and Brussels over Roosendaal and Antwerp. In principle, this is a matter of the Railway Undertakings, which operate services on this link. This service could be made subject to a Public Service contract to be concluded between Belgium and the Netherlands on the one hand and Railway Undertakings on the other. In its White Paper on European transport policy for 2010: time to decide(4), the Commission has set as objective to maintain the modal share of rail transport in 2010 at the level of 1998, notably to manage the expected increase in transport demand. It notes that international services are frequently inadequate in volume, quality and reliability in comparison with national services. The White Paper also announces that the Commission will table proposals to safeguard the quality of rail services and users' rights, and it will develop those and other proposals in close co-operation with the main actors and stakeholders involved.

(1) HSL Zuid: High Speed Link South: the section from the Dutch/Belgian border to Amsterdam of the Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam High Speed Link.

(2) OJ L 75, 15.3.2001.

(3) OJ L 156, 28.6.1969.

(4) COM(2001) 370 final.