Brussels, 29/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - In a joint declaration adopted after the high level meeting of the CER/UIC (Community of European Railways and Infrastructure) in Vienna on Friday 24 April, the chief executives of private and state-owned European rail freight companies called for public support to cope with the effects of the crisis on their business and for a moratorium on the implementation of new measures foreseen for the sector. According to the carrier companies, freight transport has been on a steady decline in Europe since mid-2008. In January 2009, the fall in freight rail transport compared to the same period the year before reached 34% in central and eastern Europe and 36% in western Europe. On the basis of this argument, the rail companies call for: - a moratorium on energy price rises and fees for access to tracks; - accelerated investment in infrastructure and full compensation for costs entailed by the upgrading of wagons required as part of the measures recommended by the European Commission to reduce noise emissions caused by rail transport. The declaration also calls on the Commission to envisage a moratorium of at least one year on implementation of this proposal as well as on the implementation of two other proposals considered by rail companies as too costly, namely: - the implementation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and harmonisation of technical specifications for interoperability of rolling stock. (A.By./transl.jl)