WRITTEN QUESTION E-3895/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 January 2003)

Subject: Restoration of the possibility of changing onto long-distance trains in Duisburg on the main line between the Netherlands and Germany

1. Is the Commission aware that, since 15 December 2002, the cross-border rail service from Amsterdam to Cologne via Utrecht, Arnhem, Emmerich and Duisburg, whose importance is growing because of the disappearance of other through services between the Netherlands and Germany, has been reduced from 11 to 8 trains per day, as through trains to Italy, Austria and Switzerland have been removed from the timetable and this service has been replaced by six ICE trains per day on the new high-speed line between Cologne and Frankfurt am Main?

2. Is the Commission furthermore aware that, due to this reduction in services, there is now a four-hour gap in the timetable for services to Germany in the morning and that it is no longer possible to depart from Duisburg for the Netherlands before 8.55 a.m. or after 8.54 p.m.?

3. How does a state of affairs accord with the Commission's efforts to achieve European integration in which, while the greater part of the route between Arnhem and Duisburg is served by slow trains every half-hour from the early morning to the late evening, only the 15 km link across the border between the stations of Zevenaar (NL) and Emmerich (D) is completely missing from the timetable, while in the new timetable the EC 2/3 train pair stops in Emmerich only once a day, whereas until three years ago all through trains stopped there?

4. With due regard for the management independence of railway undertakings provided for in Directive 91/440/EEC(1), what can the Commission do to prevent national borders within the EU from becoming virtually insuperable obstacles to local public transport and connections to stations where it is possible to change onto through trains on the other side of a border, thus rendering the situation worse than it was before the inception of the EU?

5. Will the Commission, in consultation with Germany and the Netherlands, the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia and the railway companies concerned, DB, NS and Syntus, take measures to ensure that between the border stations of Emmerich and Zevenaar, each of which has a half-hourly service connecting it with the national rail network in its Member State, at least one slow train per hour is scheduled to provide a cross-border connection, by analogy with the cross-border services which have now been introduced between Enschede (NL) and Gronau (D), Venlo (NL) and Mönchengladbach (D), and Heerlen (NL) and Aachen (D), which are less important to passengers wishing to use international connecting services?

(1) OJ L 237, 24.8.1991, p. 25.

Joint answerto Written Questions E-3894/02 and E-3895/02given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2003)

The Commission is generally aware of the changes in time-tabling for international rail passenger services. The time-table change of 15 December 2002 has been the occasion to discontinue a number of long-distance international rail passenger services.

The Commission regrets the lowering of service levels. However, at present there is not a complete picture available about development of the number of international railway services.

There are different market segments relevant for international passenger services. The market segment of high speed services has the best chances of growing as a profitable business and will benefit from a major extension of the network between now and 2010. The conventional long-distance services segment is vulnerable at present due to low profitability, competition from low cost air services and due to inaccurate co-operation between railway undertakings. For short distance cross border services, the situation is mixed and very much dependent on whether public service contracts have been awarded by public authorities at both sides of the border. Finding a good model for cross-border co-operation between public authorities is a difficult issue at present.

The Commission is working on a number of initiatives aimed at improving in the short to medium term the current situation in international rail passenger services:

- it has already adopted an amended proposal on public service contracts(1) which includes the possibility to extent the public services cross-border and this extension can only be rejected with reasons (Article 4a 1);

- in its work program for 2003, the Commission has planned to table a proposal for a regulation on passengers' rights and obligations in international rail services for which the Commission services have already published a consultation document in October 2002. This initiative should impact on the service quality level and the connections between services. Introduction of consultation of passenger organisations on such time-table changes may be part of this process(2);

- furthermore, the Commission will propose a directive regarding the opening of the international rail passenger market. This should improve the competitiveness of the sector and make it more customer minded.

(1) Amended proposal for a Regulation of the Parliament and of the Council on action by Member States concerning public service requirements and the award of public service contracts in passenger transport by rail, road and inland waterway, 21.2.2002, COM(2002) 107 final.

(2) The Commission published a consultation document on this issue, see website http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/rail/library/consultation.pdf.