The close of the ‘Rail Infrastructure for Freight Services: from corridor to network’ business conference
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Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank Vice President Siim Kallas. Siim, I know that the strengthening of links in Europe lies very close to your heart. You firmly believe in a transparent and trustworthy Europe.
You demonstrated this from 2004 to 2010, when you were responsible for administration as Vice President of the European Commission. You also stand for an efficient and competitive Europe.
You have shown this over the past four months in your new position as Commissioner for Transport.
I greatly admire the way in which you collaborate with European colleagues and with me to improve matters. This was already apparent in aviation, during the volcanic ash crisis in April. At that time we managed to cooperate very well indeed.
And today, we have been doing so again.
Ladies and gentlemen,
· Italian Zanussi fridges headed for Scandinavian chefs.
· German Volkswagens for Dutch families.
· Rolls of Swedish paper for Austrian newspaper readers.
· Brazilian iron ore for industry in the Saarland.
You know what all these products have in common. They all reach their destinations quickly and efficiently thanks to rail transport. Right across Europe. Across hundreds – sometimes thousands – of kilometres. Between south and north. And between west and east.
Economy is movement. The flow of ideas, of money and of goods. As European Transport Ministers we bear the responsibility to do all we can to speed up movement in Europe. To make it easier for you, entrepreneurs, to do business. Because ultimately, prosperity is not created in government offices, but in factories, companies, mainports and distribution centres, and along the transport corridors of Europe.
Together, we are by no means getting all we can out of rail transport. Unloading a railway carriage is 15 percent more efficient per pallet than unloading a lorry. Every day, thousands of lorries still clog our roads, while in many cases there is a good alternative on hand. The more lorries we can remove from our collective roads, the better. Every additional goods train on the tracks means some 40 fewer lorries (or 26 Longer and Heaver Vehicles) on the road!
We can see that we are making progress. For example, in the Netherlands the volume of rail freight transport has doubled within a single decade.
Last year, rail transport from Rotterdam was again able to strengthen its position in the modal split. The share of rail transport grew from 11 percent to 13 percent.
A significant step forward in a year in which goods transport was hit hard by the crisis.
The market share of the Betuweroute (from Rotterdam to Germany and back) also grew: from nearly 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 to nearly 60 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
This growth is expected to continue to a share of 65 per cent by the end of this year. At that time, the Betuweroute will accommodate some 350 freight trains a week.
I welcome your commitment as entrepreneurs, infrastructure managers and transport authorities to together make even better use of the potential of rail transport in the future.
Our role as national governments is to remove barriers. Our job is to make the passage of goods by rail in Europe truly ‘free’. ‘Free’ in the sense that goods can move from A to B quickly and safely, in a single fluid motion.
Take, for instance, the differences in systems and materiel that exist in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In theory, some 1150 different interactions are possible that all have to be tested when new materiel is admitted. Imagine if we did not cooperate in this – it would be a nightmare.
I understand your urgent call for harmonisation.
Why should a goods train running between Rotterdam and Genoa have to carry three different first-aid kits, each with a different imprint and different contents? Why does every country have its own approach to encouraging quieter trains?
If we, as European countries, desire to compete globally, we must stop thinking locally. Goods transport is an international team sport.
Today, Vice President Kallas of the European Commission, my European colleagues and I made agreements about the future of European rail corridors. Our ambition is to create a safe, efficient and high-quality European network of rail corridors.
This theme is quite rightly an item on the European agenda. We hope that the European Council will swiftly reach an agreement with the European Parliament for adopting the relevant regulation.
Indeed, this entails investments in infrastructure.
For the Genoa corridor, infrastructure managers forecast investments to the amount of 35 billion euros up until 2025, 11 billion of which already has been paid to projects such as the Betuweroute and Lotschberg Tunnel.
In addition to infrastructure, quality is also a concern, as is removing unnecessary barriers at borders. In this way, we would like to enable you to truly take advantage of the many opportunities that exist.
First, we have agreed to proceed at full speed with the development of the vital rail corridor between Rotterdam and Genoa. For the first time, an international rail corridor will be entirely equipped with a single, state-of-the-art safety system: ERTMS.
By the year 2015, this system will be installed across the entire length of the route, spanning four countries and 1500 kilometres.
For the realisation of this corridor, the European countries involved are funding and charging their infrastructure managers with the task of getting to work energetically. European support for this project is essential. Financial support as well as support in preparing for the admission of the necessary equipment and locomotives onto the tracks.
Second, we have agreed that we will make it possible for trains up to 750 metre in length (if economically justified) to run from Rotterdam to Genoa and vice versa.
Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands will together tackle the last remaining bottlenecks. A single long train is more efficient, greener and cheaper than two short trains. If we make every effort to resolve the final bottlenecks, we will make the entire corridor stronger.
Third, we would like to bring the link with Antwerp into the Rotterdam-Genoa corridor. Currently, many trains are already running from Antwerp to Switzerland via Germany. This makes this cooperation most appropriate.
Fourth, we are going to combine our forces on the Rotterdam – Lyons and Antwerp – Basel – Lyons routes. A single programme will be drawn up for the further development of these corridors. It is important, for example, that a ‘one stop shop’ is established as quickly as possible: a single place where you can go to with requests for an international train path.
The existing rail link between Antwerp and Rotterdam will be given a boost. We are planning to resolve the ERTMS missing link between these two mainports by rolling out ERTMS on the line between the two port cities.
A fifth point on which we have made agreements is the important east-west link between Rotterdam / Antwerp / Bremerhaven to Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania.
Together with Germany and France, Poland ranks among the top-3 of rail freight countries. The Czech Republic and Lithuania also play significant roles.
It is of vital importance for European competitive strength that we strengthen the east-west corridor. That is why we are going to combine all ongoing efforts.
Later this year we want to make agreements about, among other things, the mutual acceptance of one another’s rolling stock approvals. We also need to quickly establish a ‘one stop shop’ so that transporters have a single contact for this corridor.
A sixth topic we discussed is making freight transport along the Rotterdam-Genoa corridor more quiet. If we want rail transport to continue to grow strongly we must also ensure that there is public support.
Noisy materiel is one of the main reasons for resistance. We must ensure that people living in the vicinity of freight corridors are able to sleep peacefully.
The European Union is working on the certification of K and LL blocks that produce less noise.
Ladies and gentlemen, Europe is fighting to recuperate after the terrible crisis that began in 2008.
This fight requires courage. The courage to take painful measures at home. And the courage to look beyond national borders and combine our strengths.
Because there is a great deal more to be gained through better cooperation.
Intermodal solutions arise when we think outside the box. It is not the separate links that are most important, but rather the connections throughout the chain.
Antwerp is a port for Switzerland. Genoa is a port for Germany. Rotterdam is a port for Poland. Hamburg is a port for France. That is the way we are thinking.
Together, we will realise this. Entrepreneurs, infrastructure managers, transporters, ports, safety authorities, national governments and the European Commission.
Your conclusions today are a great help. We are on the verge of ratifying the agreements made at the ministerial conference in a ‘Declaration of Rotterdam’.
On the right track together. And now, full speed ahead!
Thank you very much for your contributions today!