Brussels, 13/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - As part of the review of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), FERRMED, the association for promoting the major rail axis Scandinavia/Rhine/Rhone/ Mediterranean, has suggested transferring its own standards for rail freight to the future core network of TEN-T (see EUROPE 9833). This involves harmonising common standards for trains on the central network, ensuring management of this network at European level across Europe, as well as taking into account the major rail routes (such as Hamburg/Berlin, Bremen/Duisburg, etc.) which, at this stage, have not yet been taken into account as part of the TEN-T network. FERRMED standards would apply to the central TEN-T network whose outline is still to be defined by the European Commission. According to the current timetable, concrete proposals for the central TEN-T network are to be presented during April, after discussion with EU transport ministers in Transport Council on 31 March.
In February 2010, the European Commission proposed changes should be made to the TEN-T architecture by setting out a hierarchy for transport routes in Europe: - a central network (road, rail, inland navigation, etc.) would connect the main European industrial and economic hubs; and a secondary network would ensure better access to the central network. FERRMED, which is an association created on a private sector initiative for improving infrastructure and operating on the main rail routes across Europe, does not bring the proposal into question. On the contrary, it considers that the links currently envisaged by the public sector are of vital importance for transport flow in the internal market. In a “manifesto” published at the European Parliament on Wednesday 12 January, FERRMED considers it important to link the main airports, ports and logistic terminals to the central network. It also considers that the configuration of the network should be made up of corridors with the greatest socio-economic and intermodal impact, with parallel lines - one for high speed trains and another for conventional passenger trains and goods trains. “These two lines do not necessarily have to be one beside the other” but could be tens of kilometres apart, FERRMED states in its manifesto. The association also recommends that the network have clear methods of assessment. Secondly, it underlines the need to set in place common standards for freight transport on the central transportation network. This is essential if the central trans-European network is to remain competitive, the manifesto points out. The same standards should extend to all areas from infrastructure (track gauge, voltage of electric lines, etc.) to the possibility of having trains of up to 1,500 metres in length (compared to 500 to 600 metres currently authorised in Europe and some 2,500 metres elsewhere in the world), and to financing. Thirdly, the FERRMED manifesto proposes inclusion in the central network of lines that do not yet appear in the TEN-T priorities. The manifesto may be consulted online at: http://www.ferrmed.com/en/content/view/90/87 (A.By./transl.jl)