WRITTEN QUESTION E-2500/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 September 2001)

Subject: Greatly increased journey times as a result of poor coordination between the Netherlands and Belgian railways and the advent of high-speed railway lines

1. Is the Commission aware that in the timetable for a period of at least 18 months from 10 June 2001 to 14 December 2002 the hourly cross-border rail service between Brussels and Amsterdam no longer provides normal connections between Belgium and the South and East of the Netherlands in either direction. This is because trains from Brussels arrive at 57 minutes past the hour while the connecting trains to Tilburg Nijmegen Zwolle leave one minute earlier and in the opposite direction trains arrive at the Rosendaal junction at five minutes past the hour and the connecting train to Brussels now leaves four minutes earlier at three minutes past the hour?

2. Does the Commission not agree that the replacement of connections that have existed for years allowing time to change trains with a timetable that allows no time to make the connection reflects inadequate coordination between the Netherlands (NS) and Belgian (NMBS/SNCB) railways, which, for the sake of timetabling their domestic train services easily, have imposed a waiting time of one hour in the southern direction and half an hour in the northern direction for connections between the two countries?

3. Does the Commission see any possibility of helping to find a speedy solution to this cross-border problem and the irritation caused to cross-border train passengers by improving coordination between train services in the Netherlands and Belgium, or does it accept a situation in which existing structures for intensive cooperation in Europe do not prevent traffic bottlenecks of this kind, for which there is no justification whatsoever, continuing or occurring again?

4. What will happen in September 2005 when the speed and capacity of services between Brussels and Amsterdam will increase when the cross-border high-speed line between Antwerp and Rotterdam is finished but there will no longer be any possibility of changing trains in Rosendaal and still less in Breda because the high-speed trains travelling along the western side of the city will not stop at any station with an East-West connection? What is now being done to ensure that an alternative direct connection between the East and South of the Netherlands and the extended Antwerp central station will be provided via the old line through Rosendaal?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(31 October 2001)

1. No, the Commission was not aware of this information.

2. It is not up to the Commission to judge about specific timetables. With the adoption of the infrastructure package directives 2001/12/EC, 2001/13/EC and 2001/14/EC(1) a new regulatory framework has to be put in place at the latest by 15 march 2003. According to these directives, the infrastructure managers shall organise international train paths upon request of the railway undertakings. In the network statement the infrastructure manager must outline the priorities allowed to international passenger trains.

3. and 4. The Commission has no power to take action on these points. However, it accepts that the potential of cross-border passenger rail transport in Europe is far from being fulfilled. It considers it appropriate for cross-border as well as national public transport services to be subject to public service requirements designed to ensure the delivery of adequate public passenger transport. Whether rail operators benefit from financial compensation for the provision of services or only from an exclusive right, they should in exchange be required to fulfil defined public service requirements. The Commission's proposal for a regulation on public services in public transport(2) provides a mechanism that competent authorities on either side of national borders can use to achieve this.

(1) Directive 2001/12/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways, OJ L 75, 15.3.2001Directive 2001/13/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 amending Council Directive 95/18/EC on the licensing of railway undertakings, OJ L 75, 15.3.2001Directive 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, OJ L 75, 15.3.2001.

(2) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.