Brussels, 03/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - After the accident in Viareggio which left 14 people dead and many injured during the night of Monday 29 June to Tuesday 30 June, Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani announced that a conference would be held on the safety of rail transport. The event is expected to take place in September but the date and place of the meeting have still to be set. This conference should make it possible to determine concrete initiatives that are necessary for clarifying the current system of rail transport safety checks, clarify the breakdown of responsibilities and identify concrete action that is essential for strengthening integration of the system at European level “We need clarity when it comes to rail inspections and the transport of dangerous substances - it is necessary to clarify who does what”, Mr Tajani said in press release published on Thursday 2 July. He also suggested setting up European safety checks. “For this reason, the European Rail Agency (ERA) should have security competence similar to that of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Maritime Security Agency (EMSA)”, he said. At present, despite the adoption of the package on the interoperability of European railways (see EUROPE 9616), the system of security checks and responsibility in the rail sector is still fragmented. On one hand, the directive on the transport of dangerous substances defines technical standards (packaging, labelling, etc) for the transport of such substances at European level. On the other hand, responsibility for the safety of the different components of the rail network (operations, equipment, infrastructure, etc) still comes under national competence (rail companies for the safety of trains, infrastructure operators for infrastructure and national authorities for type approval). The ERA, whose powers were extended by the interoperability package, is developing common standards for safety certificates (the draft regulation should be sent to the European Commission in September) and the type approval scheme for maintenance entities (at the end of 2010 in line with legislation). (A.By./transl.jl)