Independent journal on economy and transport policy
07:55 GMT+2
CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE STUDI CONTAINERS
ANNO XXXVIII - Numero SETTEMBRE 2020
RAIL TRANSPORT
EU MINISTERS COMMIT TO FOSTER FREIGHT CORRIDORS
"EUROPE: EU transport ministers endorsed a formal
declaration in Berlin on September 21 committing them to 'support
international rail freight and further strengthen the Rail Freight
Corridors"
Acknowledging that the Rail Freight Corridors had 'proven to be
very effective in developing common measures facilitating the
enhancement of the resilience of rail freight in the event of major
crises', the ministers proposed that further resilience measures be
developed and that lessons be learnt from coping with the Covid-19
pandemic in terms of ensuring good quality, high capacity
infrastructure.
Further work is to be undertaken to 'strengthen the Rail Freight
Corridors' one-stop shops in a coordinated way', with key
performance indicators used to measure progress.
Rail freight stakeholders will receive support 'to enable them
to better adapt to market needs' through encouragement to make use
of opportunities for digital sharing of information on train
movements, as in the 'Estimated Time of Departure and Arrival'
project. Infrastructure managers will be invited to conclude the
'Timetable Redesign Project' which 'has the potential to become the
main instrument for enhancing and improving international traffic in
Europe by providing a more flexible and timely allocation of
infrastructure capacity'.
Infrastructure managers will be encouraged to develop virtual
traffic management by establishing standardised cooperation of
national traffic management centres to ensure rapid response to
disruption and to facilitate joint preparations for planned
restrictions on capacity.
The declaration further commits ministers to enhance rail
freight as 'one of the most environmentally friendly ways of moving
freight'.
Referring to the European Commission's Green Deal initiative,
they state that 'a level playing field among all transport modes' is
essential to reach the target of 'delivering sustainable and
carbon-free rail freight transport', as is 'continued greening of
rail itself by moving to carbon-neutral energy sources'.
Infrastructure should be adapted to the needs of rail freight
without affecting passenger operations, while the TEN-T provisions
for infrastructure, 'especially the unlimited possibility to run 740
m trains within the core network' are considered 'sufficient and
appropriate'.
Cooperation with the TEN-T Core Network Corridors will continue,
and cooperation with road and waterborne transport 'in providing
complete and efficient transport chains in the most eco-friendly
way' will be encouraged.
Measures for mitigating noise from freight trains are welcomed
as a means of increasing the acceptance of freight trains by the
population - something specifically referred to by Germany's Federal
Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer in his statement at the Rail
Summit with other transport ministers held on the same day.
The ministers supported the European Union Agency for Railways
in its efforts to improve technical and operational harmonisation,
remarking that this is 'most important in safeguarding and improving
the competitiveness of rail freight'. All stakeholders are invited
'to cooperate and to remove redundant national rules' which are
covered by TSIs.
The declaration recognises the importance of ERTMS for enhancing
competitiveness and also that a coordinated approach is needed at
the EU and national level to support the fitment of ETCS onboard
units and the 'development and authorisation strategies to enable a
smooth ERTMS trackside deployment'. Further, it emphasises the
importance of rail freight innovations at European level and 'the
need for the successor to Shift2Rail to focus more specifically on
rail freight'.
Implementation of the Digital Automatic Coupling and automated
train preparation are recognised as 'one of the main priorities',
the aim being to agree on a single EU-wide migration strategy by
2022.
Finally, the declaration recognises that skilled staff are
essential for the commercial success of international rail freight
and the achievement of modal shift and climate targets, and
ministers welcomed measures to make employment in rail freight more
attractive; initiatives to address labour market needs will receive
support.
The declaration builds on a series of commitments made in recent
years that are intended to foster the development of rail freight
across Europe, including declarations made in Rotterdam in 2016 and
in Graz and Wien in 2018.
The declaration was welcomed by rail sector associations,
suppliers and other interested parties through the Sector Statement
Group, which noted that the Berlin Declaration 'showcases the
necessary clear commitment of the EU Member States to support
international rail freight and rightly recognises the environmental
advantage of rail freight in view of the European Green Deal'."
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