New TEN-T puts military mobility in spotlight
The European Parliament recently approved the revision of the TEN-T regulation. The new document contains several interesting points, but one of the most significant changes is a stronger…
France’s plan for Spanish rail border crossing upgrade is ‘worrying’
The future of the upgrade of the rail border crossing between France and Spain on the TEN-T Atlantic Corridor is still unclear and concerns are increasing. Carlo Sacchi,…
Background
What does the European TEN-T revision mean for rail?
The Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament unanimously adopted its position regarding the revision of the TEN-T regulations last week. What has been decided in this…
New cross-border Lyon-Turin railway tunnel receives French critique
Over 150 French public personalities have signed a letter asking to stop the construction of the Turin-Lyon railway tunnel and redirect the investments toward exiting trains and routes.…
EU Parliament throws weight behind alternative fuels infrastructure for railway
The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a report on the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR). This heralds the next step for Brussels in setting up a new legal…
ETS revision with direct benefits for rail adopted by European Parliament
The EU Parliament’s plenary session on Wednesday, 22 June, voted in favour of revising the EU Emissions Trading System. In practice, this means that the ETS will include…
New EU rules on road tolls a fact, but road still has advantage over rail
After five years of negotiations, the new EU rules on road tolls are in place. The European Parliament adopted the Eurovignette Directive on Thursday 17 February. However, the…
85 billion for sustainable transport in EU recovery plans
European member states will collectively allocate at least 85 billion euros to sustainably transport as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans to support the recovery from…
New European rail passengers’ rights: a hit or miss?
The European Parliament has approved the agreement with member states on the revised rules on rail passengers’ rights last week. The rules should guarantee that passengers can be…
‘EU Year of Rail should be extended in face of Covid-19’
CER, EIM and UNIFE – among the main rail associations in Brussels – have asked for an extension of the European Year of Rail, as the pandemic hinders…
The Netherlands appoints Wim van de Camp as Year of Rail ambassador
Former member of the European Parliament Wim van de Camp has been appointed Dutch Ambassador for the European Year of Rail. State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven of Infrastructure…
European Parliament approves European Year of Rail 2021
The negotiators of the European Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to declare 2021 the European Year of Railways. Throughout the year there will…
Deadline for the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package expired
The deadline for Member States to transpose the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package has expired last Saturday. This package enables the European Union Agency for Railways…
Now official: track access charges may be waived during pandemic
Member States of the European Union may waive or reduce track access charges to support railway undertakings during the pandemic. The European Parliament voted in favor of this…
European Parliament asks for larger budget transport infrastructure
The European Parliament has called for a significantly larger budget for transport infrastructure through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport programme, a European financing tool for railway projects…