Brussels, 20/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc and the transport ministers of seven Alpine states - Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein - signed a joint commitment on Friday 20 March after a congress devoted to transport across the Alpine region.
In their text, they repeat their commitment to complete eight rail tunnels currently at the planning stage. These tunnels all belong to the Trans-European Transport Network and are due to be completed between 2016 and 2025. They are the Gothard Tunnel, the Ceneri Tunnel, the Terzo Valico dei Giovi line, the Koralm Tunnel, the Semmering Tunnel, the Brenner Tunnel, the cross-border tunnel linking Lyons and Turin and the Karavanke crossborder tunnel. The signatory states also pledge to construct the rail links providing access to the tunnels. Some are specified, such as Karlsruhe-Basel; Munich-Wörgl; Ponte Gardena-Verona; Lyons-Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne; Susa-Turin; and Trieste-Divaca. The text also speaks of links from inland areas to the ports of the northern Adriatic and the Western Balkans region.
In a second phase, the signatories pledge to make these transalpine sections the pioneers of a system of sustainable mobility, which will require that special attention be given to the issues of traffic management, technological innovation, intermodal connections, sustainable freight and innovative and integrated passenger transport services. They hope to create a lasting dynamic for the other corridors of the core network.
They speak, too, of the possibility of building development synergies between digital, transport and energy infrastructure. The signatories call for greater communication on the general development of the corridors and promise to meet in a year's time to review progress and potential difficulties met.
“An integrated and future-oriented transport concept for the Alpine region is vital for both the overall performance of Europe's transport system and the preservation of nature”, stated Bulc. The congress coincided with the official launch, on 19 March, of technical work in the Brenner base tunnel. (Jean Comte)