Brussels, 23/06/2016 (Agence Europe) -European Union Transport Ministers and their counterparts from Norway and Switzerland have made a commitment to strengthening the European freight corridors in view of increasing international rail traffic. This commitment was made as part of the adoption of the Declaration of Rotterdam on Tuesday 21 June, during the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) events.
Ministers therefore focused on several areas of action as part of four major themes: making international rail freight more attractive; improving rail freight corridor governance; enhancing operational efficiency and guaranteeing adequate capacity for all users.
They therefore made a commitment to stepping up data exchange as a means of improving rail operations, encouraging the rail sector to do likewise and proposed to reduce noise pollution generated by rail traffic in densely populated areas. On the issue of governance, ministers called for a strategic meeting to be organised every year at a corridor level between the different executive boards. They are also proposing to organise an annual meeting on service performances between management boards and executive councils, as well as actors from the whole sector. Finally, they also offered their support to the project for setting up an "Advisory Group Structure" for customers.
Other flagship action includes: demands for the standardisation of rail freight performance measuring and assessment methods; enhancing cooperation between the national authorities responsible for security and the new European Union Agency for Railways (EUAR); - the removal of national technical rules, if necessary, in keeping with the 4th railway package (see EUROPE 11542); - enhancing cooperation between the rail freight corridors and the TEN-T Core Network Corridors; - opportunities for adapting financing mechanisms to pay for infrastructure shortfalls.
On the same day, the main rail sector actors (CER, CLECAT, EIM, ERFA, ERTMS Users Group, ESC, UIP, UIRR, and UNIFE) adopted a declaration for strengthening international rail freight competitiveness, which will consolidate the declaration made by the ministers. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)