Brussels, 17/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Siim Kallas is starting to lose patience at the obstinacy of certain countries, led by Germany, in playing against the clock to install the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), despite being formally obliged to do so by 2015. The European commissioner in charge of transport did not mince his words at the conference on the ERTMS which was held by the Danish Presidency in Copenhagen this 16-17 April: “There is no excuse for not delivering ERTMS (…). Everything must be done to meet the 2015 deadline - and the time needed for tendering, installing, testing and authorising is running short.”
Berlin digs in heels. His first priority is the corridor linking Rotterdam (Netherlands) with Genoa (Italy). This is key for setting in place a European railway area which is capable of seriously competing with the road for freight transport and reducing CO2 emissions in transport. Italy, the Netherlands, but also Germany and Switzerland, are involved, and the last of these countries has already largely done its share. In veiled terms, Kallas criticised Germany in Copenhagen. Berlin recently took a few steps backwards, arguing that it preferred another potentially cheaper system (STM) to the ERTMS. “Failing to equip just one kilometre of a route could jeopardise rail transport's competitiveness on the entire route, putting the wider objectives of the ERTMS at risk. If that happens, then other countries suffer unfairly”, he stressed. However, he did acknowledge that the ERTMS is encountering technical problems, but these can be resolved, he said. Acknowledging the fact that the system involves expenditure in terms of both time and money for the member states, a delicate issue against a backdrop of economic recession, the commissioner proposes taking a closer look at these problems and considering a certain level of flexibility. Even so, Kallas warned, progress is needed and “it is also unacceptable for individual countries to hold up the system's wider deployment”.
Copenhagen at forefront. The Danish Presidency is in the vanguard on this dossier. “We in Denmark have decided to implement ERTMS on the entire railway network. Subsequently, I think that we rightfully can say that we are in the forefront in terms of promoting a modern and efficient railway”, explained Danish Transport Minister Henrik Dam Kristensen. This is why Denmark was so keen to hold this conference on its own soil. (MD/transl.fl)