WRITTEN QUESTION E-0435/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(18 February 2003)

Subject: Interests of the railway companies in restricting cross-border passengers from embarking and disembarking

1. Is the Commission aware that more and more frequently railway companies are stipulating that the staging points on long-distance cross-border passenger train routes are either stations of embarkation or disembarkation, which means that passengers are now prohibited from travelling to embarkation stations or leaving from disembarkation stations; these measures are reinforced by not providing information about the stopping times and platform numbers of the trains concerned at the relevant stations?

2. Is the Commission also aware that the measures described in paragraph 1 are not restricted to passengers making short domestic journeys who are directed to another train which will soon be stopping at the same station, but that they also apply to cross-border journeys on routes hundreds of kilometres long where the volume of passenger traffic is low?

3. Is the Commission also aware that the international trains that passengers are now prohibited from using are often the first or last trains of the day on the route concerned, thereby preventing passengers from reaching their destination or transfer station as quickly as possible. To give some illustrations, in 2003 on the summer night train from Amsterdam to Paris via Brussels, boarding in Brussels will be prohibited and in 2002 similar rules were introduced for the Amsterdam-Duisburg-Mannheim-Munich/Zurich night train (where disembarkation is prohibited as far as Munich and in Basle) and on the Barcelona-Cebère-Paris/Milan route disembarkation has been prohibited for some time at the French border and transfer station of Cebère?

4. Can the Commission confirm that rules of this kind prohibiting embarkation and disembarkation have been introduced solely in the interests of the railway companies themselves, as a way of making management easier by reducing the need to check passengers embarking and disembarking?

5. In the Commission's view, are there other reasons why railway companies introduce such irritating measures that inconvenience a section of their passengers?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0435/03 and E-0436/03given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(2 April 2003)

The Commission is aware of the fact that there may be conditions to passengers for embarking and disembarking a particular cross-border rail service.

These conditions are part of the commercial policy of railway undertakings on which the Commission has no influence. It is up to the Member States to impose any public service obligations on the railway undertakings in this respect, if they wish to do so.

There could be various reasons for these conditions like comfort and security for passengers in night trains or operational reasons. The Commission is not aware of any detailed arrangement in this respect from the railway undertakings. However the limitations to embark and disembark the trains could be due to the absence in Community law of the right of cabotage in international trains and to the lack of pressure put on the railway undertakings to attract passengers.

The Commission will in the preparation of a proposal for a regulation for rail passenger rights reflect on possible ways to improve the conditions of contracts for passengers. And, as requested by the Parliament, the Commission will make proposals to allow the access rights for international passenger services, in order to eliminate artificial barriers.