WRITTEN QUESTION E-1738/01 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Persistent lack of coordination of rail freight transport and obstruction of express transport services between Amsterdam and Milan.
Date: 2001-06-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: carriage of goods, common transport policy, high-speed transport, rail transport, trans-European network, transport network, transport policy

14.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 40 E/95

Indeed, when these new Alpine crossings and Betuwe line are completed, the capacity of the infrastructures
on the entire Netherlands/Italy route will have been increased considerably, which will allow an improved
rail service, including freight.

it should be pointed out that among the other priority projects listed in Annex III of the
Moreover,
abovementioned decision are two new Alpine crossings, one between France and Italy (Mont Cenis) and
the other between Austria and Italy (Brenner), which by 2015 will further increase the capacity of the
North/South routes. This is in line with the wishes expressed by the European Council, meeting in
Gothenburg in June 2001, which called on the Community institutions to give priority to investments
particularly in the railways, in order to promote sustainable development.

In this connection, in addition to infrastructure funding, the Commission has identified a whole range of
measures, the first package of which was adopted by the Council in December 2000, aimed at making rail
more competitive and attractive in the context of the opening up of the rail freight market.

4.
freight
The Commission shares the view that optimum conditions for the competitiveness of
transport by rail do not exist at present. The juxtaposition of technical and safety rules at national level
the railway companies to find satisfactory common solutions have severely
and the inability of
handicapped rail freight.

For this reason, the Directive on the interoperability of conventional rail systems (1) established the
framework for drawing up technical specifications for interoperability. This work, which began this year,
gives priority to rail freight. The objective is to establish a European rail area without technical or legal
frontiers enabling freight to develop on a competitive basis.

As regards the conditions governing competition between rail and road, the Commission considers it
necessary to review the tariff bases for the various modes, taking account of external costs, in order to
restore the balance in favour of the most environmentally friendly modes such as rail, waterways or short
sea shipping.

(1) OJ L 110, 20.4.2001.

(2002/C 40 E/096)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1738/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(15 June 2001)

Subject: Persistent lack of coordination of rail
services between Amsterdam and Milan

freight transport and obstruction of express transport

1.
Is the Commission aware that the Overnight Express from Amsterdam to Milan, which has been
operating since 2000, carrying both passengers and goods on a nightly basis, is functioning poorly because
of the disparate wishes and regulations of the States through which the trains pass, so that it has been
necessary to replace the converted German mail coaches with slower container wagons which make it
necessary to limit the train(cid:146)s speed to 120 km per hour, that between 16 and 26 March it was impossible
for any freight at all to be carried and that in Italy two drivers are required per engine?

2.
Is the Commission also aware that the rail capacity on the German section of the route, particularly
between Cologne and Emmerich on the Dutch-German border, is so limited that unless it is increased, a
serious shortage of capacity is expected to arise from 2015? Can it confirm that the Warnem(cid:252)nde
Agreement of 1993 between Germany and the Netherlands has not so far resulted in the preparation of
German investment to alter this situation?

3.
The operator, Deutsche Bahn-Netz, uses a system of awarding slots, under which businesses with the
longest-standing rights have priority. What are the consequences of this system for transport companies
other than Railion, a joint subsidiary of the German and Dutch railways, for example for the French

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14.2.2002

company SNCF, which has hundreds of locomotives capable of using a different voltage, and for large
shipping lines such as Maersk and P & O-NedLloyd, which say that they wish to start carrying goods by rail
themselves?

How does the situation referred to at 3 above relate to the (cid:145)railways package(cid:146) adopted by the
4.
European Parliament at third reading on 1 February 2001 following the Jarzembowski and Swoboda
reports?

Under the present circumstances, how many years will

link between the
5.
Netherlands and Italy accords with the forecasts of required capacity? What will the Commission do to
reduce this period if possible?

it be before the rail

Sources:(cid:145)De Volkskrant(cid:146) (Dutch newspaper) of 21 May 2001 and (cid:145)Op de Rails(cid:146) (Dutch periodical), 2001
No 4.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

The Commission, which is supporting the Overnight Express rail service financially through the
It has,

1.
PACT programme,
moreover, asked the parties to find a solution to the problems encountered last March.

is well aware of the difficulties which this service has been experiencing.

As regards the use of container wagons, the Commission does not agree with the explanation put forward
in the question. It was in fact a free decision on the part of the operator Railion to replace the mail
coaches with container wagons in order to be able to use containers, which were more appropriate to the
goods being transported.

It is correct that Italy still requires two drivers per engine until 2003.

The Commission is aware of the rail capacity problems between Cologne and Emmerich. The
2.
Warnem(cid:252)nde Agreement between the Netherlands and Germany provides for investments by the two
parties to increase capacity (e.g. the (cid:145)Betuwe Lijn(cid:146) and renovation of the Emmerich-Oberhausen line). Work
is well under way on the Netherlands side (completion scheduled for 2005/2006) and on the German side
there is a commitment to carry out the necessary works once the Betuwe Lijn has been completed.

Directive 2001/14/EC (1), adopted in the framework of the (cid:145)railways package(cid:146), provides a clear
3. and 4.
framework for the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity. This Directive will have to be transposed
by the Member States before 15 March 2003.

Directive 2001/14/EC provides for a yearly review of all network capacity and a fair and non-
discriminatory distribution among all the operators.
It will no longer be possible to favour certain
enterprises on the basis of their size or long-held rights. All European railway undertakings will be put on
footing and will be able to request capacity in other Member States in order to provide
an equal
international freight services.

The Community is giving financial support to projects aimed at removing bottlenecks, as is proposed
5.
to improve
in the framework of appropriations to Trans-European Networks.
utilisation of the present rail network by better management of infrastructure capacity, which is why the
new Directive 2001/14/EC provides a clear and transparent framework for capacity allocation and for
finding solutions to the bottlenecks which can impede the process. It also requires cooperation between
the infrastructure managers concerned and should lead to better coordination of
in
international corridors like the one mentioned by the Honourable Member.

is also important

investment

It

(1) Directive 2001/14/EC of the European 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).