The Chair of the Committee on Transport (TRAN) in the European Parliament, Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), who is committed to “impose rail freight at European level”, called a meeting on Tuesday 5 May on this subject with representatives of the main companies concerned.
Ms Delli and her interlocutors – including the SNCF, Deutsche Bahn and Renfe – agreed to “implement a Marshall Plan”, the Chair of the TRAN Committee announced to the press on Wednesday 6 May.
“This coalition”, she explained, intends to increase the transport of goods by train throughout Europe. What is the purpose of such an undertaking? Compliance with the objectives of the European Green Deal.
“Rail freight emits nine times less greenhouse gases than road freight”, said Ms Delli, lamenting the fact that the aid plans currently being implemented by national governments to deal with the crisis are benefiting the more polluting road and air sectors.
What are the areas of work? The meeting naturally considered that massive investment in the rail freight sector would be necessary to help it overcome the crisis and to provide additional funds for freight operators.
Training new employees and the digitisation of the sector were also identified as possible avenues for work. “In order to make rail freight as green and efficient as possible, new technologies must be part of the solution”, Ms Delli stressed.
A call signed by the stakeholders in this project, detailing their expectations of the Commission and the Member States, is expected to be published early next week.
For the continuation of the operations, the President of the TRAN Commission mentions a possible “resolution to put pressure on the European Commission and send a clear message to the EU Council” or “negotiations with the Commission so that it proposes a strong text”.
European strategy. Libor Lochman, Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), who was present at the meeting on Tuesday, called for “a sustainable and innovative strategy” for rail freight in the EU.
A strategy “that takes account of the current crisis situation and that is clear about the role that rail freight should play in the future”, he said on Wednesday 6 May at a conference on freight transport.
As for the European Ministers, some of them had already shown some interest in the issue during the last Transport Council (see EUROPE 12478/3).
François Bausch of Luxembourg had thus insisted on the importance of investing in railway projects. France, Germany, Spain and Italy, according to a note from the French Secretary of State for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, had also “called on the EU to provide financial support to the rail freight sector, in particular its operators”, which is considered an essential vector for European industry and ecological transition. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)