WRITTEN QUESTION E-0473/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(20 February 2003)

Subject: Air supply for passengers in the Eurostar and other high-speed trains when the power supply is cut off

1. Is the Commission aware that on the evening of Friday, 7 February 2003, a Eurostar train en route from London to Paris broke down shortly after departure and was stationary for five hours before being towed back into London Waterloo international station six hours after it had left?

2. Is it also aware that while the train was at a standstill the passengers not only had no water and were prohibited from using the toilets, but were also deprived of fresh air and enough oxygen to breathe normally and were forced to smash the windows using the emergency hammers?

3. Was this shortage of air due to the fact that the train, unlike earlier models, is completely airtight, so that when the doors are shut the supply of air is completely dependent on a ventilation system that operates only with a continuous supply of electricity?

4. What would the consequences be if an incident of this kind occurred during a warm summer period, when there would not only be a shortage of oxygen but also a sharp rise in air temperature? Might it not be the case that many people would lose consciousness and some of them even die?

5. Can problems of this kind also occur in the other high-speed trains, such as the French TGV, which it is different from the Eurostar on the outside but is fitted with the same materials inside, the similar Thalys operated by Belgium on cross-border services, the Spanish AVE, the German ICE, the Italian ETR.500 and the Swedish X-2000?

6. What measures are being taken to protect passengers from such incidents in future? Does the Commission intend to make it mandatory for train windows always to open sufficiently in the event of an accident, as used to be the case in all trains?

Source: TV1 Flanders, late night news, 8 February 2003.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(1 April 2003)

The Honourable Member's question relates to an incident on the 17.15 Eurostar train from London to Paris on 7 February, of which the Commission was duly informed.

A formal enquiry is being carried out jointly by Eurostar and Network Rail, the infrastructure manager. According to information available to the Commission, the abnormal duration of the incident was due to a combination of factors: the difficulty of identifying the fault because of its unusual nature, the difficulty of repairing it because of

the particularly unfortunate position of the train and the time of day (rush hour), and the need to cut the electricity supply. This last factor would have meant that the emergency batteries on board the train were deployed, but they have limited capacity, hence the difficulties experienced with the air conditioning, the lighting and the passenger information system via loud-speakers.

With regard to Community law, a process of developing Community technical rules in the field of rail transport is underway, in the context of Council Directive 96/48/EEC of 23 July 1996(1) and Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001(2) on the interoperability of the trans-European rail system. These Directives set out a procedure for the adoption of technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs). The first generation of TSIs was adopted by the Commission on 30 May 2002 in the field of high-speed trains (Directive 96/48/EC), but TSIs for conventional rail transport are still being drafted.

The TSIs are not exhaustive: they cover only the aspects which have to be harmonised to facilitate trans-frontier rail services, on the basis that what is not specified at Community level is specified by the competent authorities in the Member States.

The Commission notes the proposals made by the Honourable Member with regard to passenger protection and will certainly take them into account in its review of the first generation of TSIs, which has already started, and in its proposal on passenger rights scheduled for later this year (2003).

(1) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996.

(2) OJ L 110, 20.4.2001.