Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-01-17-Speech-3-186"
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"en.20070117.11.3-186"2
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"Mr President, may I begin by congratulating you on your elevation. I hope you will enjoy your two and a half years in the Chair and, of course, give me plenty of speaking time!
This debate is a bit like the political equivalent of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. We talk a lot about encouraging a switch of people and goods from road to rail, and yet leave in place huge obstacles to operation of the railways. No wonder passenger numbers and goods figures are falling.
We must have a European single market in railways, rather than a series of totally incompatible national markets. Without it, the railways are at a handicap, particularly in relation to air travel. I can get a plane ticket from Manchester to Prague on my computer at the click of a button, but just try getting a train ticket from Manchester to Prague. It is impossible.
We must have liberalisation of the railways now. We must open up the market now. Of course we have to have safeguards. I would not recommend anybody to follow the experience of the United Kingdom. The privatisation – as opposed to liberalisation – there was a complete disaster. However, under the current government, the UK has put things right and now has the highest investment in railways anywhere, the largest increase in passenger numbers and also has actually seen more kilometres of railway line being built.
Nobody needs this investment more than the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Why are we delaying when they are desperate for investment? We need that investment in order to put a proper European railway market into operation. We also need to ensure that passengers are properly treated. I receive many complaints from people with reduced mobility who find it very difficult to travel by rail across Europe. We need standards on this, and we need proper ticketing so that you can press a button in Manchester and get a ticket to wherever you want to go. What is more, we need to move faster than is being proposed by the European Commission and the Council."@en1
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