Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Towards a rail network giving priority to freight COM(2007) 608 final
Date: 2008-07-10
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, carriage of goods, common transport policy, rail network, transport infrastructure

3.2.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 27/41

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council relating to simple pressure vessels (codified version)’

COM(2008) 202 final — 2008/0076 (COD)

(2009/C 27/09)

On 26 May 2008 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to simple pressure vessels (Codified
version).

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part,
it decided, at its 446th plenary session of 9 and 10 July 2008 (meeting of 9 July), by 142 votes to none
with six abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.

Brussels, 9 July 2008.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Towards a rail network giving
priority to freight’

COM(2007) 608 final

(2009/C 27/10)

On 18 October 2007 the Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on

Towards a rail network giving priority to freight.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 5 June 2008. The rapporteur was
Mr Buffetaut.

At its 446th plenary session, held on 9 and 10 July 2008 (meeting of 10 July), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 111 votes in favour and one abstention.

1. Conclusions

— reasonably short ‘end to end’ journey times;

1.1
The EESC agrees with the Commission's diagnosis of the
rail freight situation in the European Union and believes that its
proposals are a move in the right direction, though modest
compared with the scale of the challenge.

1.2

It believes that to improve the situation will require:

— the supply of a logistics service as opposed to a simple

transport service;

— lower costs so as to be able to offer more competitive

prices;

— a more reliable service;

— the introduction of flexibility in supply and responsiveness

in the event of disruptions.

1.3 A genuine logistics service

The basic idea is to simplify for the client something that is
intrinsically complex in rail terms. This means providing client
follow-up and clear and reliable information, building up the
supply of private wagons and developing end to end services
that include loading and unloading.

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1.4 Lower costs

1.6 Reasonably short ‘end to end’ journey times

1.4.1
To achieve lower costs will involve pursuing interoper-
ability and technical harmonisation in Europe. Historically, each
network has made its own rules and regulatory and safety
systems. Gradually, all the systems must be aligned and imple-
mentation of the ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management
System) must be made a top priority.

1.4.2 Whenever realistically possible, by means of appro-
priate investment, the characteristics of the rail
infrastructure
should gradually be changed in terms of gauge, train length,
gradients and axle load, in order to gear them to the needs of
freight transport, as is the case for instance in the United States.

1.4.3
Real progress in competition and the opening up of
the market would necessarily lead to greater efficiency and
productivity. This raises the issue of rail staff training. New
operators entering the market may find that there is a shortage
of skilled workers. Care must be taken therefore to ensure that
adequate training courses are set up so that this demand can be
met and new highly-skilled jobs can be created.

1.4.4
The allocation of costs by infrastructure managers
among the various operators must be reviewed and, similarly,
the external costs of competing modes of transport should be
better allocated so as to create the conditions for free, undis-
torted competition.

1.4.5
Initiatives such as the Betuwe line, the New OPERA
project or FERRMED should be studied and supported so as to
learn lessons while sharing experiences and good practice.

1.5 A more reliable service

Binding contractual rules on compensation for custo-
1.5.1
mers who receive a poor quality service would provide a good
incentive to improve the service provided.

One of

the complaints generally made about

1.6.1
rail
freight transport is the length and slowness of journeys. To
resolve this issue, the freight paths mapped out should have a
limited number of stops (or none) and should be designed to
ensure there is little danger of traffic clashes with other trains;
furthermore, when it comes to operational management in the
event of traffic clashes, freight should be given priority wherever
possible. High-speed night
should also be
developed.

freight

trains

Investment is also needed to prepare infrastructure for
1.6.2
higher speed trains, while bearing in mind that greater speeds
mean lower authorised axle loads. While something must be
done about the current low speed of rail freight, it should be
stressed that the most important factor is constancy in speed.
than the stop/start
Moderate but constant speed is better
phenomenon that results in accumulating delays.

1.7 Introducing flexibility

Longstanding

traffic management principles

1.7.1
and
methods, which systematically give priority to passenger trains
on preset
real
knock-on effect: for a freight train, a short delay on leaving (for
instance ten minutes) almost always results in a major delay on
arrival (of a number of hours or even a whole day).

theoretical paths, have an unintended but

increase real

time fluidity in freight

The development of technology in the medium to long
1.7.2
train traffic
term will
without using a preset theoretical path as the only reference
point. The ‘moving block’ concept, built into the latest stage of
the ERTMS, enables more trains to travel on the same infrastruc-
ture and better reactions in the event of disturbances. For this to
work, all Member States must invest in the ERTMS so as to
secure interoperability and continuity in the use of the various
national networks as soon as possible.

1.5.2
There is a need to work at the quality and reliability of
the various elements of the service. This concerns rolling stock
and also signals, track and information systems.

Investment

1.7.3
in capacity is nonetheless necessary for
bottlenecks and loading/unloading platforms enabling transport
system interoperability.

1.5.3
A more reliable service also means reserving good train
paths for freight, for instance by laying down priority rules to
favour freight in cases of traffic clashes on those paths, while
obviously bearing in mind the interests of all users. There would
for
traffic
room for manoeuvre
timetabling.

instance be

regarding

1.7.4
The issue of marshalling, loading and unloading yards
is important but cannot be divorced from that of the secondary
networks that serve the regions. The fact is that to be genuinely
competitive, maximum proximity of rail freight transport to the
client is essential.

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1.8 A freight-dedicated network

without recalling the need to encourage the development of a
rail network giving priority to freight.

Although it may not be very realistic to recommend
1.8.1
setting up a trans-European freight-dedicated network, there is
no doubt that a separate network would be the best way to
promote rail freight transport, making it more reliable, more
punctual, less expensive and faster. In the immediate future the
option of freight-oriented corridors is more realistic, but in the
absence of major transcontinental freight-dedicated networks, it
may be possible to include in freight-oriented corridors an
increasing number of freight-dedicated sections of line in order
to link particularly active economic centres, as demonstrated by
the success of the Betuwe line between the port of Rotterdam
and Germany. All the Member States must become genuinely
involved in implementing policies and regulations with a view
to making the railways more competitive.

2. Taking stock

2.1 A worrying observation

transport grew by 2.8 % a year
2.1.1 Whereas freight
between 1995 and 2005, rail freight's market share fell steadily,
levelling off at approximately 10 % in 2005,
its lowest level
since 1945.

According to the Commission,

2.1.2
the reasons for this
poor performance are a lack of reliability, insufficient capacity,
defective information management, slowness and a lack of flex-
ibility. However, despite these shortcomings, new opportunities
may arise in the current economic context, marked as it is by an
increase in trade, road congestion, increasing fuel prices, and an
ever growing concern for environmental conservation.

2.1.3
transport by means of a three-pronged policy approach:

In the past, the Community has attempted to boost rail

— opening up the rail freight market, while restructuring old

companies;

— developing technical

interoperability and common safety

rules;

— placing the rail network in the general framework of the

trans-European transport network.

2.1.4
pointing when it comes to transnational transport.

It cannot be denied that the results have been disap-

2.2.2
It is this idea that is developed in the Commission's
communication, setting the triple objective of improving speed,
reliability and capacity for traffic on a network based on the
existing trans-European networks.

3. The Commission's proposals

3.1
The Commission recalls the initiatives already taken to
encourage, improve or promote rail freight: developing intero-
perability and information (Europtirails), building infrastructure
(Betuwe line) and establishing corridor structures. However,
these have proved insufficient.

3.2
Three options are envisaged for form's sake: maintaining
the status quo, bringing in new measures to set up a freight-
oriented network, or running a specific programme to set up a
European rail network dedicated to freight.

3.3
In accordance with the principles of ancient philosophy,
the Commission considers that ‘in medio stat virtus’ and rejects
the first and third options, one for lacking ambition and the
other for being unrealistic.

3.4 Proposed measures

3.4.1
The Commission hopes to develop transnational corri-
dors so as to establish a freight-oriented network. This would
involve identifying those corridors with an appropriate infra-
structure while implementing an effective management and
operating system. This cannot come about, however, unless the
Member States sign up to the project as infrastructure managers.

3.4.2
In order to achieve this, the Commission envisages a
series of legislative measures to tie in with the recasting of the
first railway package planned for 2008, together with incentives
released from existing
to be
and funding,
appropriations.

latter

the

3.4.3
In this way, the Commission's plan is to give freight-
oriented corridors legal definition, so as to encourage Member
States and infrastructure managers to establish freight-oriented
transnational corridors and to seek out financing for these struc-
tures, within the framework of existing financing packages.

2.2 An evolving common transport policy

2.2.1
The White Paper on European Transport Policy for
2010 aimed to generate a shift from road to rail and already
‘multimodal corridors giving
envisaged the establishment of
priority to freight’. For the sake of practicality, the 2006 revised
white paper scaled down its ambitions regarding the shift from
road to rail and developed the idea of ‘co-modality’, though not

3.4.4
One of the criticisms made of rail freight is the poor
quality of service and a lack of client information. For this
reason, the Commission hopes to implement a genuine quality
and transparency policy and will propose a legislative measure
on the publication of quality indicators.
It also intends to
publish a report on steps taken by operators to improve the rail
service.

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3.4.5
Certain sections of the network are saturated, particu-
larly in central regions of the European Union, and this situation
is likely to worsen in the years ahead. The key therefore is to
invest in infrastructure capacity, particularly in terms of train
length, gauge, axle load and maximum speed. The investment
will clearly have to be targeted and coordinated. The Commis-
sion recommends that corridor management structures draw up
investment plans and leaves open the issue of financing, which
will have to be found within existing programmes.

the allocation of

The issue of traffic flow and rail freight efficiency ties
3.4.6
in with that of
train paths to freight. At
present, the allocation of train paths is decided by individual
managers, according to rules that differ from one Member State
to another. It would therefore be useful to harmonise the rules
for allocating train paths so as to secure reliable, high perfor-
mance paths.

To achieve this, the Commission plans to propose legis-
3.4.7
lative measures for the international allocation of paths and on
the priority given to freight, particularly in the event of network
disturbances.

Freight traffic also requires terminals and marshalling
3.4.8
yards. However, pressure on real estate in past years led to a
tendency to reduce the number of these stations and terminals
in urban areas.

On reading the Commission's proposals, it is clear that
3.4.9
their success will depend on the measures taken and motivation
shown by the Member States and rail sector players.

3.5 General comments

3.5.1
The observations made by the Commission on the
state of rail freight require no particular comment and only
confirm what was already known about the weakness of the
sector. To improve the situation will mean mobilising those
responsible in the public and private sectors, not only in terms
of political willingness and business dynamism, but also in
terms of financing.

This is definitely the weak point of

3.5.2
the plan. The
Commission is proposing a number of legislative measures, but
no new allocation of resources. The legal approach may be
useful, but is certainly not sufficient. The appropriations needed
to implement the plan will have to be found from existing
programmes. This will require delicate choices and will be diffi-
cult to manage, with measures in one area inevitably affecting
another.

Brussels, 10 July 2008.

Lastly,

the success of

3.5.3
the plan presupposes strong
commitment on the part of the Member States and managing
companies, but the former are often short of funds and may
have other rail priorities and the latter, which have nonetheless
benefited
expensive-to-maintain
networks from operation, are not always in the best financial
state.

from the

separation

of

3.6 Specific comments

3.6.1
Establishing transnational corridors is clearly a prere-
quisite for freight development, but it is common knowledge
that freight has up to now been sacrificed in favour of passenger
transport. What is needed therefore amounts to a cultural revo-
lution, with inevitable constraints to be accepted by the Member
States, and dedicated funding, all the while bearing in mind that
as far as the public is concerned the need to give priority to
passenger trains goes without saying. The issue is therefore
more that of optimal network management and the definition
of freight-oriented networks that do not reduce the quality and
punctuality of passenger transport. In establishing transnational
corridors, account needs to be taken of track gauges in both the
old and new Member States, the existing rolling stock employed
by railway companies, freight movements in candidate and third
countries, and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

The

issues of

information and transparency are
3.6.2
certainly important, but it is clear that customers base their
choices primarily on the criteria of price, reliability, speed, and
facility of access to terminals and loading and unloading. The
key factor is therefore service quality, which depends firstly on
traffic and secondly on
the mechanisms for organising rail
considerable investment.

3.6.3
As regards rail freight competitiveness, it appears to be
generally accepted that this type of transport is reserved for a
certain type of merchandise,
in particular large quantities of
heavy goods. There is a need to increase client diversity, in par-
thus expanding the
ticular
market and making it more competitive,
in a context of
increased fuel prices and a growing concern to promote sustain-
able development.

through the use of containers,

3.6.4
The Commission communication appears weak on the
issue of financing, as it offers nothing in the way of specific
financing and the solution proposed is founded on delicate
choices within the bounds of existing funds.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS