EU Accelerates North-South Rail Freight Axis
June 11, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The European Union (EU) took an important step towards developing a north-south rail freight axis using the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) with the signing of an agreement on June 11.
The letter of intent, which settled long-term development objectives for the rail freight corridor Stockholm-Copenhagen-Hamburg-Munich-Innsbruck-Verona-Naples (also known as Corridor B), was signed by the transport ministers from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Italy, in the presence of Antonio Tajani, European Commission (EC) vice president in charge of transport.
"Establishing this cross-Europe rail freight axis will promote rail as an attractive option to transport goods over middle to long distances. It is another great example of Member States coming together to find a solution for transnational challenges," said Tajani.
"The signature of this Letter of Intent reflects a common commitment to work for the long term competitiveness of Rail freight across Europe. It involves major European infrastructure projects among which at first rank the Brenner Base Tunnel. Using ERTMS for this corridor will greatly facilitate the development of this axis."
Corridor B was designed in 2006 as a priority axis for the deployment of ERTMS in conventional rail. ERTMS aims to replace more than 20 different national train control and command systems in Europe, which are a major technical barrier to international rail traffic.
About 2,000 kilometers of tracks are equipped with ERTMS in Europe today. The major European rail freight corridors, including Corridor B, are expected to be equipped with ERTMS by 2020. Major freight hubs and terminals will also be connected to them by that same date.
The signature of a letter of intent represents the major first step towards the establishment of an ERTMS corridor. In the case of Corridor B, it sets objectives for the deployment of ERTMS to ensure the quick start-up of commercial operations on all the corridor sections, to set up an appropriate coordination and governance scheme, and to draw up a program of investments regarding ERTMS. (The Munich-Kufstein-Brenner/Brennero-Verona section should be equipped by 2015, and the sections Stockholm-Copenhagen-Roedby-Hamburg, Munich-Hamburg and Verona-Naples by 2020.)
There are five other ERTMS corridors:
- Corridor A: Rotterdam-Duisburg-Basel-Genoa
- Corridor C: Antwerp-Luxembourg-Basel/Lyon
- Corridor D: Valencia-Lyon-Milan-Ljubljana-Budapest
- Corridor E: Dresden-Prague-Budapest/Vienna-Constanta
- Corridor F: Aachen-Cracow/Warsaw-Terespol
Source: European Commission (EC).