Far more so than the aeroplane and, a fortiori, the hot air balloon, the railway is etched onto the collective memory of all Europeans. In the 19th century, the steam train was, at one and the same time, the product, the multiplier and the symbol of the Industrial Revolution. Across the Continent, the first passenger transport began in 1835; very soon, lines were opened in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Russia… Rail was for everybody: underground, it helped people to get across vast cities quickly; above ground, it connected communities of all sizes, transported huge quantities of goods, even scaled mountainsides. Before long, every town, practically every village had its own station and crossing guards. Train whistles punctuated life just as much as church bells. When the working masses were given paid holidays, it was the train that allowed them to discover the sea. Another aspect of this European collective memory involves carriages full of young men heading off to war, cattle trucks taking victims to death camps, the acts of resistance by brave railway workers honoured in the René Clément film ‘The Battle of the Rails’ (1946), countless business trips, cultural awakenings in other countries, international colloquia. When I was a child, a miniature electric train set was the gift everyone dreamt of. Rail symbolises the Europe of everyone.
It is a mode of transport that has inspired artists (Turner, Manet, Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Delvaux…) and novelists (Balzac, Cendrars, Zola, Zweig, Simenon…). In the mythical Orient-Express (1883-2009), where luxurious interior design meets grand art, Agatha Christie dreamt up the perfect crime: the famous novel of 1934 has been reimagined for cinema twice (1974 and 2017). The Lumière brothers were early admirers of the railway and its spellbinding effect on cinematographers is impossible to deny. I am thinking of the Compiègne Wagon, the carriage in which two Armistices were signed, Dr Zhivago, crowds of people massed in railway stations, romantic encounters lent a particular intensity by the context of an old-fashioned railway compartment. The train is our shared history.
Will the Europe of the Communities be up to the challenge of this technological, economic and cultural giant? Obviously, the coal and steel treaty covered the railway sector, even though it was increasingly electrified. The EEC treaty explicitly made provision for a common transport policy, but this remained purely theoretical for some 25 years, owing to the passivity of the Council of the EU, much to the frustration of the Parliament. Meanwhile, the car and the aeroplane have largely pushed out the train, which is principally now the mode of transport of choice for commuters. In the framework of the completion of the single market, this policy began to take shape, but the liberalisation of road and air transport was already at an advanced stage by the time the institutional system put railways on its agenda. Out of all goods transport within the EEC, the share carried by road rose from 50% in 1970 to 70% in 1990: trucks were making trains a thing of the past.
In July 1991, the Council adopted a first directive on the development of Community railways. In view of its poor application, the Commission decided to proceed in future by way of legislative packages aiming to achieve liberalisation within a Community framework and genuine interoperability, plus measures concerning safety, passenger rights, the quality of services, etc. This technique was all about making relevant directives and regulations easier for the Parliament and Council to adopt, as both of these institutions got something they wanted in the package. 2005 saw the creation of the European Railways Agency (ERA). The fourth railway package was adopted in 2016 (see EUROPE 11689/6), but soon afterwards, certain member states called for the implementation of certain laws to be postponed, to the extent that the package was not in place until 1 November 2020.
In the meantime, the new Commission proposed the European Green Deal, which was swiftly adopted by the Council and the Parliament. This context provided a backdrop for the new fight against the problems caused by the transport sector, which represents 25% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions across all modes of transport. Cutting these emissions by 90% between now and 2050 will be necessary to achieve climate neutrality. As 75% of internal freight is currently distributed by road, a shift back to rail and inland waterways, which cause far less pollution, is indispensable. Passengers, furthermore, need to be tempted back onto the railways, the only mode of transport that has reduced its CO2 emissions since 1990.
What’s more, European activities in favour of a trans-European transport network (TEN-T) need to be stepped up, particularly for new high-speed rail corridors (coordinated by Railteam). In parallel, the existing stock needs to be maintained and updated, various smaller lines serving remote areas to be revitalised and night trains re-popularised. A propos, many destinations are already accessible via Thello, Euronight, ÖBB Nightjet, Trenitalia, RENFE etc. Their increasing popularity in Sweden and Finland is worth noting.
But why NOT have a European Year of Rail? In December 2019, the Commission held discussions with representatives of the railway sector, the ERA, the joint venture Shift2Rail (created by a regulation of 2014) and Europalia. At the same time, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted own-initiative opinions in favour of promoting the railway. This consensus convinced the Commission to table a proposed decision of the EP and of the Council; it did so on 4 March 2020 (see EUROPE 12437/7, 12628/13).
The budget earmarked was 8 million euros (not including admin costs), to be paid for out of credits under the transport policy, the Horizon Europe and LIFE programmes, plus the Connecting Europe Facility. (To be continued)
Renaud Denuit