Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-14-Speech-3-359"
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"en.20060614.21.3-359"2
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"Mr Barrot, Mr Cramer, thank you for the work you have done. You said all the right things in your report, even down to the last detail. It is all set out very clearly. It is a little ironic, though, that in 2006, already some way into the 21st century, we should still be debating the benefit of a single rail signalling system. At a time when other modes of transport have made much more headway, cross-border European traffic has evidently never been that important to the monopolies. They at any rate never poured the money into it that they should have done; nor did they come up with the ideas to move things along. It is a little odd that we still find ourselves debating the basics where rail is concerned.
We are pleased that, during the hearing you organised, the infrastructural people were keen to apply the European rail signalling system (ERTMS). That in itself is a success, in our view. They could quite easily have turned round and said that they were not really interested on account of the cost and that, for the sake of those few trains that cross the border, it might be better to use lorries after all, because they can be traced by satellite. They could have left the trains for what they were. The enthusiasm we display does not really seem to be shared by those who should help to get things moving, namely the Member States, the railway companies and the infrastructure managers.
I am, of course, following Mr Cramer’s approach here, who said all the right things. We have to consider the entire corridor, from beginning to end, down to the last mile. There must be EU funding for the cross-border sections, and one corridor should not be singled out in favour of others. The project must be considered in its entirety and we must keep an eye on the bigger picture. The ultimate goal is to rig out the entire European railway network, or at least the major lines. We will therefore need to find a little more than those EUR 5 billion spread over 10 years. The amounts involved will be of quite a different order. I would like to see whether the railway companies and Member States are prepared to actually put that money on the table, because that bit of European funding is only a drop in the ocean. There is no use pretending: we cannot act as if we are going to put a pile of money on the table. One cannot expect miracles with just 1% of the Gross Domestic Product. Member States and others refuse to face this reality and think that Europe, even if it has no money, should still be the driving force behind initiatives such as these.
Railway companies too will need to prove that the funding they have received is being spent wisely, that they will look after, and attract, customers with a view to achieving ERTMS’s main goal – namely improved use of the network – so that rail becomes a mode of transport that can compete with other modes of transport."@en1
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