MEP Izaskun Bilbao (Renew Europe, Spain) presented to the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) on Monday 15 March a draft own-initiative report taking a bleak view of the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) launched in 1990.
This deployment remains “slow and patchy”, and interoperability “has not been achieved”, she noted.
By the end of 2020, only 13% of the core network corridors were operating with ERTMS and the deployment of ERTMS in most corridors was only 7-28% of the target, the report says.
However, this initiative was intended, among other things, to ensure the interoperability of national railway systems, to reduce the maintenance costs of signalling systems, and to increase infrastructure capacity and the level of safety of rail transport.
At a time when the European 'Green Deal' is being discussed and the Commission is aiming to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030 (see EUROPE 12619/12), Ms Bilbao therefore considers the full deployment of ERTMS to be “more essential than ever”.
The report therefore contains a number of recommendations to the Commission in this respect. It calls, for example, for a ban on any derogation from ERTMS compatibility requirements for new vehicles or the introduction of a regulatory provision requiring national ERTMS implementation plans to be legally aligned with binding European deployment targets. It also suggests the establishment of a common EU-wide tendering model for public procurement.
Finally, Ms Bilbao recalled that EU funds are not sufficient to meet all the needs. She therefore calls on the Commission and the Member States to “cooperate closely to further improve the attractiveness of investing in the ERTMS”.
The draft report was widely welcomed. However, amendments are to be expected, especially from the EPP.
To consult the project: https://bit.ly/3rVAqOm (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)