CER sets new five-year rail development policy

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) agreed a new policy containing five commitments to develop rail transport in the next five years at its bi-annual general assembly in Brussels on February 21. CER will use the policy to engage with the new European Commissioners and members of the European Parliament that will take office later this year.

The five commitments for 2019-2024 are:

– Continuing the digital transformation of processes and services

– Stressing our customer orientation

– Offering carbon-free rail operation in Europe by 2050

– Looking for possible sources of funding beyond public funding which CER is still necessary, and

– Looking beyond continental rail traffic to further strengthen Eurasian transport by implementing high-frequency rail connections between Europe and Asia.

Recommendations

The CER has also set out a list of recommendations for European transport policy. It wants rail to form the backbone of a sustainable European transport and economy, with a stable regulatory environment in the rail sector which redresses the current regulatory imbalances between transport modes.

The CER also wants measures which help to realise rail’s true potential. These include:

– Promotion of digitalisation, research and innovation

– Adequate funding for technological upgrades of infrastructure and rolling stock

– A complete internalisation of negative externalities for all modes of transport

– Measures to benefit from the opportunities offered by trans-continental freight flows

– Redressing the intermodal financial playing field, and

– Improvements to consumer protection and of working conditions.

“What is achieved during the next five years in terms of EU policy and related actions will be crucial for our ability to break the negative trend of climate change,” says Mr Crister Fritzson CER chair and CEO of SJ. “The railway sector is prepared to make the necessary commitments, but we clearly need help also from policy and decision makers in getting the right framework conditions and incentives in place for the transport sector as a whole.”

“We are proud of this agenda, which sets firm sector commitments and sets out the political framework we need,” says Mr Libor Lochman, executive director of CER. “Together with the European institutions we have done a lot, but any reflection on the next EU policy agenda has to consider the impact of new available technologies, the needs of our citizens and, together, the fact that we cannot give up in the fight against climate change. Rail can be the EU’s silver bullet when it comes to greening mobility.”

 

Source: railjournal.com