the prompt ERFA the acceleration towards a oriented railway system at the market



The European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), association that represents the entered new societies in the European railway market, at the market speeds up the acceleration towards a oriented railway system. In occasion of the assembly anniversary of the ERFA, held tuesday to Brussels, the president of the association, Irmtraut Tonndorf, has confirmed that sussistono still many practical discriminatory and obsolete structures that hinder the increase and the investments in the railway field and has exhorted to inquire on the abuses of dominant position in the European railway market. Moreover Irmtraut Tonndorf, that he is director of the external relations of the Helvetic operator of arranged transport Hupac, has invited decisive the Europeans at the market to place the bases for a management of the oriented railway infrastructure that it promotes the rail shipment.

In its participation to the assembly of the ERFA the European commissioner to the Transports, Violeta Bulc, has emphasized that the European railway industry must face some challenges: "in the first instance - he has specified - there is the challenge of the quality. Reliabilities and punctualities - it has explained - must be improved, in particular through a greater interoperability. Then there is the challenge of the costs, with the need to increase the competitiveness of the railway transport costs for example through a greater productivity and the more efficient railway activity, element that is legacies also to the improvement and the harmonization of the infrastructural standards. An other challenge - it has found Violeta Bulc - is the challenge of the service: the railroads must be able to supply characteristic the new customers of service to added value who will afford to the railroads to enter in new segments of market or to re-enter in segments that they have lost. At last there is also a political challenge: where there is the will - it has evidenced the European commissioner - finds the way. We must guarantee the political support to the rail shipment, in particular to the transport goods on track, and work for the parity of conditions between the transport modalities. We must work together in order to be profitable you notice and explaining the advantages of the rail shipment".

The European commissioner has confirmed that sussistono problems: "they continue to being - it has found Violeta Bulc to us - too many technical and normative obstacles. With the effectiveness of the guidelines IT TRY last December - it has remembered - we have fixed some, but a lot important infrastructural requirement fundamental minimums for the main net of transport. This would have to help to remove the barriers. The possibility to operate the long trains until 740 meters on Core Network - it has specified - will return the rail shipment of the goods more and more competitive".

Moreover - it has added Bulc - to the national borders there is a fracture of infrastructures and of the management of the traffic and this it must be faced. There are still long procedures of authorization for the destined locomotives and wagons to the international traffic, and also this must change. Moreover it must be faced the lack of a sufficient ability to elevated quality for the international transport goods". "The absence of an European only railway space - it has emphasized the European commissioner - involves a remarkable loss of market opportunity and today the goods on track represents only a market share pairs to 10% of the transport goods in Europe and there is much space for the increase". "The fourth railway package - it has evidenced - will allow to remove the barriers, to simplify, to accelerate and to reduce the costs for the relative authorizations to the rotabile material and the certifications of safety. A greater role of the European Railway Agency will contribute to assure uniformity in Europe and to fight for a greater standardization in the European markets".