Publications
Frankfurter Allgemeine, 28.05.2010 p.14
A Bridge between Europe and the Far East
The Head of Russia’s state-run railway Yakunin promotes extending railway connections through to Siberia in Brussels.
Brussels, 27th May. - When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull grounded air travel in Europe a couple of week ago, Russian state rail-company RZD did not hesitate for long: It deployed additional trains to Prague and Warsaw to help stranded air passengers. This is what Vladimir Yakunin, Head of the Russian Railways, said at a recent meeting with Siim Kallas, the new Commissioner for Transport in the European Commission. The reason for the talks in Brussels however was a different one: Yakunin, since 2005 at the head of a company with 1.1 million employees and 85 000 kilometres of railroads, wanted to promote his company as a cooperation partner: cooperation in the development of the Russian high-speed railway network, in the privatisation of the cargo as using Russia as a connector for cargo flows between Western Europe and the Far East.
Until now, cargo trains needed 14 days to cover the 9000km trans-Siberian connection. “Our goal is it to bring this down to 9 or 10 days for cargo, where the same journey by sea takes 28 days” said Yakunin. Unbowed by the considerable financial challenges, his company is betting on the required investments – including with the help of foreign investors. The cargo business in particular is attractive for the fast transportation of expensive consumer and electronic products. The aim is, annually to double to 1 million units the number of containers transported on the transit route through Siberia, said the active Russian railway head.
The state railway will hold a conference on the future of cargo transport by rail at the beginning of July in St. Petersburg. The conference is organised in coordination with the International Union of Railways (UIC) and representatives of the rail industry, logistical companies and regulatory authorities will take part. After his meeting with EU Transport Commissioner Kallas, Yakunin explained that the plans to extend the Russian broad gauge from the Ukrainian-Slovakian border to Bratislava and Vienna were well advanced. The national railway companies of Russia, Ukraine as well as Slovakia and Austria participate in equal parts in a consortium that should make the project operational by 2016. The project, estimated at 4,7 billion Euros, includes a new line 560 kilometres long.
Yakunin did not hide that the enterprise would certainly lead to raised eyebrows within the European Union. “I think it is unprofessional to interpret our efforts for a closer partnership with these railway companies as attempted Russian expansion in Europe” Yakunin said. He is rumoured to have a close relationship with Vladimir Putin as well as with the former German railway chief Hartmut Mehdorn. In Brussels, Yakunin confidently referred to his successes in cooperation, lately with Siemens for the use of “Sapsan” (peregrine falcon) high speed train on the 650 kilometre long route between Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, he also said there were occasional tentions in the relationships with western European partners. “We don’t know much about each other”, Yakunin remarked. If it is up to this man, this will change fast.
Commission conference discusses progress on the Genoa-Rotterdam priority rail axis
Vice-President Tajani met today in Genoa with ministers for transport or their representatives from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy to push forward the priority rail axis between Rotterdam and Genoa. This north-south freight and passenger rail axis, known as the priority axis n°24, connects Lyon/Genoa – Basel – Duisburg – Rotterdam/Antwerp. The rail freight corridor A Rotterdam – Genoa is a major component of the priority axis n°24 and is expected to be one of the first among six major rail freight corridors to be equipped with the European rail traffic management system (ERTMS).
"The full realisation of this rail axis is a very ambitious project as it promotes economic growth and sustainable competitiveness within the internal market. As such, it requires strong political commitment from all the Member States concerned and from our side, the European Commission", said Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Transport.
With freight on the 1400 km long "Rotterdam – Genoa" rail freight axis increasing substantially [1] , this corridor has been given particular attention. A major component of priority axis n°24, it is furthermore planned to be the first European rail freight corridor fully equipped with ERTMS as from 2015 [2] .
"ERTMS is a must for an efficient and integrated rail network in the European Union. On corridor A, exemplary efforts have already been made to respond to this need" commented EU Coordinator for ERTMS, Mr. Karel Vinck.
The entire priority rail axis will use this experience when applying ERTMS for both conventional and high speed passenger rail transport, which in part uses the same infrastructure as freight.
Today's conference was closed by the signature of two declarations. The first declaration sets long term objectives for priority rail axis n°24. The second one sets out a detailed ERTMS deployment plan along Corridor A and establishes the basis for an ambitious work programme, including noise reduction, optimisation of infrastructure usage and an improvement in the quality of services.
[1] The current yearly traffic of 28 billion tkm is expected to double by 2020.
[2] The section Mattstetten – Rothrist has been equipped with ERTMS since 2004, as well as the Lötschberg Tunnel and the Betuwe route, linking the Port of Rotterdam to the German border, has been equipped with ERTMS since June 2007
Reference: IP/09/833 Date: 26/05/2009
The rail freight sector needs EU action now
Date: June 7 2009
Major global and European customers, shippers, forwarders, independent train operators and other representative interest groups are calling on Transport Ministers meeting at the Transport Council on 11-12 June 2009 to accelerate liberalisation of the rail freight sector at this time of economic crisis.
Three major obstructions to liberalisation can be cleared if ministers and the Commission have the courage and political will to:
1. Approve the draft Regulation on the European rail network for competitive freight. The European Parliament completed its scrutiny before the election. Why should the Council of Ministers delay it further?
2. Require the Commission to proceed this month with infraction proceedings against member states for their failure to implement the 2001 First Railways Package. The first set of letters went out a year ago – why such a long delay in following them up?
3. Require the Commission to publish its proposed Recast of the First Railway Package by September 2009.
All these measures are capable of resolution now. Ministers must act now to enable the rail freight industry to develop strong, efficient and competitive services. These measures will enable an efficient European single market in rail freight to develop, bringing both economic and environmental benefits to member states. At present, member states still act in a very uncoordinated way, which makes cross-border rail freight services, especially for new entrants, extremely difficult and expensive. Clearly this Regulation is necessary to require them to co-operate.
Member states must also resist the temptation to impose barriers to effective European trade by providing state aids to freight companies that they own, and which would enable these companies to compete unfairly with the private sector. Where such state companies are in financial difficulties, they should be sold to the private sector.
Members of these organisations, comprising the majority of the European transport and logistics industry, traders, manufacturers and many train operators, all wish to increase their use of rail so that they can obtain or provide efficient, cost effective and reliable services.
They may compete with each other and with other modes but they all need a single market for freight on rail, as should be the case for all modes of transport.
Such companies will invest to improve services and efficiencies if they can have the confidence that they can have fair and consistent access to tracks and terminals, sidings and last miles, service reliability for the whole chain (including trains, loading and unloading processes, dispatching), minimal technical and legal problems with frontiers and a reasonable priority for the goods being transported.
At present, companies hold back investment because of a lack of confidence in European and member states’ policies on such issues. EU action will increase private sector investment to the benefit of all parties.
Organisations supporting this statement:
CER - Cargo Rail Europe – Frank Furrer, General Secretary
CLECAT – European association for forwarding, transport, logistic and Customs services, M. Sorgetti, Director General
ERFA – European Rail Freight Association, Tony Berkeley, President
ESC – European Shippers Council, Nicolette Van der Jagt, Secretary General
F&L – The European Freight & Logistics Leaders Forum, F&L Secretariat
IBS – Interessengemeinschaft der Bahnspediteure, Olaf Krueger, Chairman of the Executive Board
New OPERA aisbl – New European Wish: Operating Project for a European Rail Network, Franco Castagnetti, President
UIP – International Union of Private Wagons,Wolf Germann, Secretary General
Investment in rail can bring the economy back on track, rail chiefs say
Warsaw/Brussels, 8 June 2009
Rail infrastructure CEOs urge the European institutions to ensure adequate financing of rail infrastructure in times of crisis. Meeting in Warsaw on 5 June, the chief executives of European rail infrastructure companies discussed the impact of the current economic downturn on the rail industry, and proposed measures to reduce the impact of the crisis on the most environmentally friendly land transport mode, while providing a boost to the European economy as a whole. “Investment in rail has an important role to play in resolving the economic crisis,” they said.
The annual ‘High Level Infrastructure Meeting’, co-organised by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), provides an opportunity for the top management of rail infrastructure companies to debate the issues facing the industry at the highest levels. This year’s meeting, hosted by the Polish infrastructure manager, PKP PLK, focussed on the economic downturn, as well as on the revision of the trans_European transport network (TEN_T), the importance of multi_annual contracts for infrastructure financing, and the interoperability of Europe’s rail network.
Johannes Ludewig, Executive Director of CER, said: “Investing in modern and well_maintained rail infrastructure is essential for improving the competitiveness of European railways. This will not only help alleviating the negative impact of transport on the climate but also support economic recovery with a lasting positive effect. However, to allow railways to play their part, fair transport pricing mechanisms have to be introduced at the European level.”
Michael Robson, Secretary General of EIM, said: “As today’s meeting showed, when working together the rail industry can play a significant role in boosting Europe’s economy. Properly structured investment in rail infrastructure _ including the use of PPPs _ will create and sustain employment, improve productivity and increase service quality for customers – all the while reducing transport’s impact on the environment.”
Opening the conference, Jonathan Scheele, Director for TEN_T at the European Commission, argued that infrastructure managers and railway operators have to work together effectively to create a competitive rail system. When building the TEN_T, the focus needs to be on creating an efficient network rather than national projects, he went on to say.
The first half of the day, chaired by Zbigniew Szafra_ski, President, of PKP_PLK, focussed on maintaining railways’ economic viability in times of crisis. Multi_ annual contracts were presented as a basis for ensuring the financial stability of infrastructure managers. However, additional sources of financing for major projects, such as public private partnerships (PPPs), were discussed. While the impact of the crisis on rail revenues was noted, the CEOs felt that the future is still bright for railways, due to the large amounts currently being invested in rail infrastructure.
The afternoon session, chaired by Bert Klerk, President of ProRail and EIM, focussed on interoperability of infrastructure. The presentations showed that initiatives of the railway sector, such as the interoperability task force launched at the last HLIM, have seen significant progress. While such initiatives demonstrate the progress that the railways can make when the various stakeholders work together, there is still a great deal of work to do. This requires the support and financing of public bodies. More...
Public consultation – Amendments to rail access legislation in the framework of the recast of the 1st railway package
Consultation period: 02/10/2008 - 30/11/2008
Objectives of the consultation
identification of specific barriers that hinder the full opening of the international rail market and the development of rail related services
identification of areas of the EU legislative framework to be improved in order to ensure the full opening of the rail market and in order to foster the development of rail related services (see here).
