Brussels, 23/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 23 April 2015 during a conference in Brussels, the LivingRAIL and SPIDER PLUS research project participants presented their conclusions.
These European Commission-financed programmes are expected to put forward measures for strengthening the European railways.
According to Lars Deiterding from SPIDER PLUS, the two research teams reached the following joint conclusion, “The desired shift towards rail is possible, if we start now and do everything that is possible”. He referred to the ambitious objectives in the 2011 Transport White Paper and asked whether the authors of the document really believed these aims were realistic. It should be pointed out that these aims seek to ensure that 30% of goods transported on the roads over distances of more than 300 km are transferred by 2030 to other modes of transport such as the railways or inland river ways and that this figure is increased to 50% by 2050. According to a number of reports, however, despite the fact that the White Paper mid-term review is approaching, there has been little progress achieved (see EUROPE 11266 and 11273).
According to LivingRAIL and SPIDER PLUS if these objectives are to be attained, decisive action is required. At a political level, the different European stakeholders need to “agree on a common vision” and launch “decisive polity action”. They also need to standardise railway regulations Europe-wide and provide sufficient funds. With regard to the infrastructure managers, it will be necessary to complete the national high-speed networks, eradicate bottlenecks and push forward the implementation of the advanced single European train control system. Further effort is required from industry in the research and development field.
The participants in the two programmes also note that additional investment will be necessary. This is estimated to be within a band of between €25-50 billion by 2030 and which could be two or three times as high by 2050.
For further information: http://www.spiderplus-project.eu & http://www.livingrail.eu (Jean Comte)