Brussels, 05/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and the Slovenian presidency last week met the managing directors of the rail companies of the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia). The aim of the meeting, organised by Matthias Ruete, Director of DG Transport at the Commission, was to identify the main challenges currently facing the region's rail sector, a key exercise in preparations for negotiations with the Western Balkans on the creation of a common transport area in South East Europe by 2010.
The conclusion of the meeting was that the economic growth of the Balkan countries is generating increased transport demands. The rail sector, which has been neglected for many years, will not alone be able to guarantee reliable, good quality transport, or even return to its pre-1990s capacity (according to presidency sources, rail companies have still not reached half of their pre-1990s operational capacity despite the region's sound economic health). This situation is causing the rail sector to lose a large percentage of the market to road transport. The presidency, drawing conclusions from the meeting, proposes three-pronged action (infrastructure, rolling stock and funding) to revitalise South-Eastern European railways. The current situation in terms of infrastructure is poor, particularly because of the lack of maintenance. Infrastructure in the South East of Europe has been neglected for 15 years. The quality of the network must, then, be improved so as to ensure interoperability, and accessibility, of forms of transport. Reorganisation of the border crossings, new technical solutions and development of the network should bring reliability and efficiency to the region's railways. With regard to rolling stock (locomotives, carriages, etc) the priority is to renew current stock. “We are currently confronted with a serious lack of rolling stock” since “current stock is either obsolete or not up to the task,” said the presidency, speaking on behalf of the countries of the region. The presidency pointed out that, in terms of funding, rail companies need to have appropriate finance to be able to reconstruct. Those who took part in the meeting said that, above all, account must be taken of the historic operators (in debt, with outmoded rolling stock), by putting in place inter alia a system of compensation appropriate for public service obligations. The renewal and updating of infrastructure and rolling stock could also be co-financed by European funds. Funding should be coordinated across the whole sector. (A.By.)