Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-01-17-Speech-3-165"
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"en.20070117.9.3-165"2
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"Mr President, opening up the rail market to competition is all well and good and, indeed, necessary. However, if you do not have a sufficient rail infrastructure, it is really a secondary consideration.
In my constituency of Northern Ireland, we benefited from essential improvements on the north-south rail connection from Larne through to the border with the Irish Republic and on to Dublin. That has been done as part of the trans-European network. However, the other key limb of our infrastructure is languishing in neglect and resulting decline, namely the link from Belfast to our second city, Londonderry. This is something which I discussed with the Commissioner when he visited Northern Ireland some time ago. This north-west route, particularly north of Ballymena, has had minimum investment, and mooted expenditure of GBP 10.5 million will not address the essential need for infrastructure improvements but merely arrest further deterioration, leaving us with a network incapable of carrying the necessary fast trains. What is urgently needed is the inclusion of this north-west line into the TENs programme, followed by the investment and upgrade which could result. It is for this that I appeal to the Commission.
A rail bridge across the River Foyle would open up the opportunity of a link into Donegal and thereby provide a truly transnational link. This north-west line must not only be saved but also radically improved and, through TENs, the EU can make a worthwhile contribution.
Finally, on the Savary report, I must say that it seeks to place far too much regulatory burden on the rail industry. It will provide a tier of EU regulation on top of already adequate national regulation, while providing no benefit, as I see it, to the rail sector or to its users."@en1
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