WRITTEN QUESTION P-3725/00

by Maria Sanders-ten Holte (ELDR) to the Commission

(23 November 2000)

Subject: Improving safety in tunnels

The major accident which occurred in a mountain railway tunnel in Kaprun (Austria) on 11 November gives renewed cause for serious concern about the safety of transport tunnels, both road and railway.

The European automobile and touring clubs AIT (International Touring Alliance) and FIA (International Automobile Federation) carried out investigations this year on the safety of 25 major European road tunnels, and concluded that at least 8 of these were inadequate, some of them having very serious defects in terms of escape routes, fire safety or rescue services.

Incidents in narrow, long tunnels are frequent according to a Swiss study as many as 200 to 1 000 per year. These are mostly breakdowns. Serious collisions happen between 5 and 20 times a year, though the figure is at least 40 % higher for single-line tunnels. Fires are a regular occurrence. According to an AIPRC (Permanent International Association of Road Congresses) study, the frequency is 10-25 fires per 100 million vehicle-km. In a long, narrow tunnel that is on average one fire every three months!

1. Does Commissioner Palacio consider, given that fires in transport tunnels can have very serious consequences, that significantly more attention ought to be paid to the safety of tunnels in Europe?

2. In the light of the above, does the Commissioner consider it necessary to take concrete measures as soon as possible to improve safety conditions in both road and rail tunnels? If, so, when can such measures be taken?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(5 January 2001)

The Commission invites the Honourable Member to refer to the replies given to Written Question P-1722/00 by Mrs Piia Noora Kaupi(1) and to Written Question E-3000/00 by Mr Luciano Caveri(2) on the same subject.

The risks of accidents inside road tunnels are similar to those on motorways, thanks to the presence of a number of devices and equipment for safety, lighting, monitoring and emergency signalling, for example, even if, contrastingly, confinement makes the danger greater than on the open road in the case of a fire or an explosion.

The study referred to by the Honourable Member confirmed that there were disparities between the tunnels currently in use. The least well equipped, often the oldest, constitute a greater threat.

It is primarily up to the operators of tunnels, local authorities and the Member States to undertake improvement measures, which should be evaluated case by case. Following the tragic fires which took place in 1999, for example, Member States systematically reassessed their tunnels and decided to launch large-scale works to improve some of them.

The Commission will draw up an assessment of the specific actions undertaken. As part of its future action programme on road safety which it will put forward at the end of 2001, it will identify those measures still needed to be taken to improve European road tunnels.

The Commission does not rule out proposing a European regulation. An initial exchange of views with the Member States will take place within the Ministers of Transport Council on 21 December 2000.

(1) OJ C 53 E, 20.2.2001, p. 178.

(2) OJ C 151 E, 22.5.2001, p. 37.