FOR RELEASE: May 9, 2001

Call for European rail liberalisation process to accelerate

Delegates attending a rail conference at the European Parliament have stressed the need for European rail liberalisation to accelerate.

The conference was held on the 2nd May in Brussels and organised by Christopher Beazley MEP, a leading campaigner on railway safety issues, with support from General Motors Electro Motive Division, EMD. The conference heard calls from a large number of participants that the railway industry must move more quickly towards a single market for rail travel and that barriers to achieving this must be removed.

Don Riach, Director of World Wide Sales for General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel (General Motors' Rail Division) a speaker at the conference stressed that Europe must learn from the rail liberalisation experiences elsewhere in the world.

He highlighted some of the difficulties with the liberalisation of railways in Argentina and said that the issue of "interoperability" had been critical to the success of the Mexican liberalisation. He said, "You can drive a train from Northern Canada to Southern Mexico - you must be able to have the same freedom of movement in Europe - whether traveling from Norway to Sweden or Germany to Spain."

He added, "the EU rail liberalisation package which completed its progress earlier this year is to be welcomed" but commented that, "industry and policy makers must work more closely together in order to drive liberalisation forward."

On the subject of rail investment Riach welcomed the long-term investment plans many EU governments had made in recent years. He commented,

"This is an industry with very long business cycles. Motive power and rolling stock can last for 20 to 30 years, sometimes longer. For industry and the public to receive a fair return for this investment, there is a need for long-term and sustainable funding, not just short bursts to solve the emergency of the day. Infrastructure must be maintained at a high level to enable operating companies to run trains on time to meet the demands of customers."

Riach also responded to recent railway safety issues saying,

"Safety must continue to be the top priority. Recent events have brought this home in horrific ways, in the UK and here more recently in Belgium. It is our responsibility as members of the railway community to respond to this challenge and to develop solutions, which not only build confidence in the railway but that we also deliver a system that is genuinely safe, whether for passengers or freight transportation."

Christopher Beazley MEP highlighted the challenges which European Union enlargement would bring. Speaking after the event he said,

"The enlargement of the European Union brings considerable challenges for the railway industry. Interoperability will be a major challenge and the candidate countries must ensure that they can link with European Union member states quickly, safely and efficiently."

He continued, "there are many other challenges which the rail industry faces and the European Parliament must continue to work with the industry to ensure that policy enables business to deliver for consumers."

He concluded, "we need to restore public confidence in Europe's railways. They have had a difficult time over the past few years and those of us in Brussels must work towards a European railway renaissance, getting more people traveling by train and making use of the environmental benefits by getting more freight off the roads and on to the tracks."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Scott Garman
scott.garman@emdiesels.com
+1 (708) 387-5041