WRITTEN QUESTION E-0178/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) and Helmuth Markov (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(31 January 2000)

Subject: Discontinuing of train services between the Netherlands and Germany after upgrading of the Nieuweschans Weneer section of the TEN

1. Is the Commission aware that passenger rail services between Groningen in the Netherlands and Bremen in Germany have so far been restricted to three trains a day in each direction and that there has even been talk of cancelling the service, which would mean that there would no longer be any public transport between the northern regions of the two countries.

2. Is the Commission also aware that for years the main argument put forward in support of this restricted service was that the section of the line between the border localities of Nieuweschans (Netherlands) and Weener (Germany, Lower Saxony) was dilapidated and single-track, as a result of which the speed had to be restricted to 30 km an hour in some places, and that the necessary repairs were not regarded as viable?

3. Can the Commission confirm that as from 1 April 2000 rail traffic on the border section of the track will be suspended for six months (and replaced by a bus service) so that this neglected line can at last be upgraded at a cost of at least EUR 16,5 million and the train speed increased to 120 km per hour, except on the swing bridge over the Ems between Papenburg and Leer, which is needed because of shipbuilding, and that the cost of the German section of the work is being funded partly with monies allocated to the trans-European networks?

4. Does the Commission realise that the Netherlandse Spoorwegen (NS) have cancelled the Deutsche Bahn VT624 train used hitherto so that the new regional rail company NordNed can take over the service but that NooordNed has not has not yet come to any agreement on a subsidy with the Netherlands Province of Groningen and the German Land of Lower Saxony and that no application for a timetable for the winter period 2000-2001 has been submitted to the rail authorities?

5. What steps does the Commission intend to take to prevent a situation in which, as a result of the withdrawal of the two national railway companies involved and insufficient regional subsidies, passenger services on this railway line do not resume on completion of the repair work in October 2000, which would mean that upgrading the TEN link had been pointless?

Supplementary answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(30 March 2000)

The Commission is aware that the state of the rail infrastructure along the 17 kilometer (km) long cross-border section Nieuweschans Weener Ihrhove, which forms part of the line Groningen (Netherlands) Leer (Germany), is currently insufficient, and that this situation has a negative impact on the quality of railway services (speed limitation in particular).

The Commission can confirm that it is planned to upgrade the Nieuweschans Weener Ihrhove railway line this year, and that the total cost of this upgrading work has been estimated at 16,5 million. The authorities informed the Commission that works on the Dutch side have already begun, and that on the German side they are foreseen to be undertaken between April 2000 and October 2000. Community financial aid, both in the framework of the trans-European transport network and the Interreg programme, has been granted to support the upgrading works on both sides of the border.

The Dutch and German authorities informed the Commission that the Dutch company Noordnet and the German DB Regio will provide rail services, once the infrastructure upgrading works are completed. Negotiations on this matter between the Province of Groningen and NoordNet on the one hand, and Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen and DB Regio on the other, are at an advanced stage. Negotiations are furthermore in course between NoordNet and DB Regio regarding their co-operation on the provision of cross-border services.