Brussels, 20/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The rail sector is reflecting on ways to extend the scope of high-speed rail lines in the European Union in order to meet the expectations of the Commission set out in the White Paper on Transport, and more recently in the new guidelines for the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), presented on Wednesday 19 October. The evening of this announcement, the Community of European Railways (CER) met representatives from industry and the institutions for a political debate supported by the Polish Presidency and the European People's Party, in order to explore ways to achieve a threefold increase in the area covered by high-speed rail lines in Europe by 2030. Discussion turned to the fact that rail/air complementarity is essential. Artur Zasada (EPP, Poland) referred to Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, which has an excellent rail ink that illustrates a good balance has been struck between the two modes of transport. Along the same lines, Jean Eric Paquet, Director of DG MOVE, said the ambitions of the revised TEN-T were to better connect high-speed lines to airports and urban centres. High-speed lines must provide services for medium to long distances, assured Libor Lochman, CER Deputy Director, who added that, above all, they should be coherent and complementary with a conventional rail network that operates well. (MD/transl.jl)