Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-21-Speech-2-022"
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"en.20031021.2.2-022"2
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"Mr President, I should like to thank the MEPs – the rapporteurs – who have done so much work in order to put a coherent package on the table; because that is what the finished product is. Since last week, I have been able to see with my own eyes that it is indeed possible to do business on the railways in Europe. I visited a private company in Rotterdam that now transports half of its containers by rail: that means a 50% market share compared to the old monopolists that are stuck in their ways. The entry of private entrepreneurs into the market has therefore contributed towards halting the comparative loss of a mode of transport. We must therefore encourage more private players to invest in the use of the railways, so as to secure their future as an alternative mode of transport. I admire and endorse Mr Jarzembowski’s commitment to going the full distance with the railways and also to the aspiration of liberalising passenger transport by 2008. I do hope that the Council adopts this. I should also like to warn, however, that in so doing we must not hinder a number of countries from liberalising freight transport. Here, I am referring in particular to countries such as France and Belgium: although their organisations are investing abroad, they do not permit foreign undertakings to develop activities on their railways. I hope that, by January 2006, that will be a thing of the past, and I do believe that it will. Safety and interoperability go hand in hand, and are also the most important reason why the railways have the potential to be a good, quick and competitive mode of transport compared to road transport. For that to be the case, however, a great deal will have to change.
I have observed that a train travelling from the Netherlands to southern Germany – through two countries and three
has seven changes of locomotive. It is absolutely ridiculous that this is supposed to be the alternative to road transport. I am happy, therefore, that there is an excellent proposal on the table here that will enable us to eradicate conditions such as these. It will enable us to ensure that we have uniform training throughout Europe, a single, recognisable, system, which is accessible and also promotes through-travel; thus increasing the real speed of freight railways, and, with it, safety and reliability.
I should like to advocate that a great deal of attention be paid to the interconnection of route plans at international level, therefore. This will clear the way for those wishing to travel by rail to be able to do so. This would necessitate interconnection of routes. Such things must not be organised separately for each
and each country. An all-encompassing, integrated approach is required, and I think that it is extremely important that this proposal is on the table. In my opinion, this issue of safety and interoperability presents us with a very good chance of making the railways an attractive mode of transport, alongside road transport and also alongside transport over water. I think that this represents a step that is of considerable importance to freight transport throughout Europe."@en1
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