More speed required for railway expansion
politics
At a conference in Innsbruck, 15 regions of the EU Alpine Space Strategy (EUSALP) agreed to put more pressure on the EU level to expand rail transport. A level playing field between modes of transport was called for in a joint declaration. The declaration is to be dealt with in the EU Parliament.
In the EU there is “on paper” enough pressure to push ahead with rail expansion – “but I would like to see more speed in the implementation,” said the Tyrolean ÖVP-EU deputy. Barbara Thaler. They see the two major construction sites in the infrastructure and in standardizing the rules. In addition, the construction of the feeder lines for the Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) and the expansion of the rail infrastructure in the cities should be speeded up.
Thaler sees CO2 pricing as a solution
It is important to “dissolve the distortion of competition between rail and road,” said Thaler. For her, however, this does not mean that the abolition of the diesel privilege would be the right way to go, because this is “a question of the past” anyway. The EU politician sees the solution in the introduction of CO2 pricing, but the negotiations on this “will take a few more months”.
Felipe for getting the diesel privilege
For Tyrol’s Transport Minister Ingrid Felipe (Greens), the abolition of the diesel privilege is a means – accompanied by support measures for those who depend on the car, she said. It is important to shift traffic from road to rail – because the “really big relief” will only come when the Brenner Base Tunnel is completed. She also emphasized that Tyrol wants to stick to its anti-transit measures as long as the traffic figures are rising.
One-third solution in Friuli Venezia Giulia
Graziano Pizzimenti, provincial councilor in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, said that “not everything should be shifted to rail”. In his home country, the goal has been set to transport one third by rail, one third by road and one third by water. The declaration builds on the cooperation of the seven states and 48 regions that have been cooperating within the framework of the EUSALP since 2016.
UECC pushes for reinforced hubs
The Union of European Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Commerce (UECC) also signed a resolution at its spring meeting in Innsbruck on Friday, which focuses on rail expansion. Among other things, the UECC called for “the rapid and resolute implementation of the most important and longest of the nine TEN-T rail transport corridors in Europe, the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor”. In addition, according to Tyrol’s WK President Christoph Walser, the expansion of terminals should be promoted: “The shift from road to rail can only succeed if these hubs are sufficiently efficient for the handling of goods,” he said.