WRITTEN QUESTION E-2459/03 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Southern European rail network.
Date: 2003-07-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: France, Spain, carriage of goods, common transport policy, cross-border transport, high-speed transport, rail network, sustainable mobility, trans-European network

C 65 E/158

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

(2004/C 65 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2459/03

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 July 2003)

Subject: Southern European rail network

It emerges from recent studies state that the proportion of goods transported by rail in Europe fell from
21 % to 8,1 % over the period 1970-2000. The beneficiary has been the road haulage sector, which offers
a number of advantages over rail, including greater convenience of delivery.

Under Articles 154 and 155 of the EC Treaty, it is incumbent on the Community to contribute to the
establishment and development of trans-European transport networks.

As rail is by far the more environment-friendly transport means, the Commission has committed itself to
revitalising the rail sector under the Union’s common transport policy.

What measures are being taken to ensure the future of rail freight over the Pyrenees?

What measures are being taken to ensure that the Pyrenees rail freight service is competitive with other
modes of transport, especially road haulage?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2003)

Revitalising rail freight is a real necessity throughout the Union and is one of the key priorities of the
Union’s common transport policy. The Union is anxious to create an integrated railway area in which rail
transport can once again become efficient and competitive, especially for freight. Its new initiatives and
measures already being applied are serving to integrate the national rail systems. This integration hinges on
developing the interoperability of the high-speed and conventional rail systems, a particularly important
objective given the very different characteristics of the existing Spanish and French networks.

Accordingly, in a bid to make rail freight more attractive the Community is helping to finance projects
which will increase the capacity of the lines linking the Iberian peninsula to the rest of Europe via the
Pyrenees. In particular, the Community has provided support from the trans-European transport network
(TEN-T) budget, equivalent to 10 % of the overall project cost, for building the Perpignan-Figueras section
of the new standard European gauge line which will link Barcelona and its region to the French network.
This new line, which will be open to use by both freight and passenger trains, should come into service in
2008-2009 and will allow significant time gains at the border by precluding the need to change axles
there.

Priority project No 3 (TGV South), of which the Perpignan-Figueras section forms one part, also involves
an upgrading of the line on French territory, between Perpignan, Montpellier and Nîmes, the studies for
which are also being co-financed from the TEN-T budget. A new line is due to be built on this route by
2015, and this will free up major capacity (cid:1) especially for freight trains (cid:1) on the existing line.

The Commission would further point out that the priority TEN-T projects it has proposed also include the
central rail crossing of the Pyrenees and the Iberian high-speed network. Parliament has already approved
this proposal at first reading.