By Henrietta Billings - 4th March 2004
A bold new shake up of the rail sector, proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday, has sparked concern within the European rail industry.
The Community of European Railways (CER), an industry body that represents over 30 rail companies, has voiced concerns over aspects of the draft laws which they warn could threaten the competitiveness of the sector.
"Creating a uniform, EU-wide legislative approach to define quality could create an extra burden on the rail system, further threatening the competitiveness of rail," said CER chairman Giancarlo Cimoli.
While recognising the commission's aim to strengthen the railway sector, the industry has concerns with proposals on passenger rights and the regulation of the freight sector that are mooted by the so-called 'third railway package.'
Brussels says it has based planned compensation measures for passengers on existing best practice from current major players in the market, such as Eurostar and Thalys.
Under the EU proposal, travellers on a two hour international journey delayed for more than one hour will be entitled to full compensation of the ticket price.
And passengers set back by cancellations or missed connections due to delays would get reimbursement, refreshments, and if necessary hotel accommodation - all paid for by the rail operators.
The rail industry argues that legislation in this area is unnecessary as a voluntary code drawn up by the sector, and which addresses compensation issues, is already in place.
"European legislation is not needed to secure adequate pasenger rights, the railways have already documented that they are able and willings to deliver good solutions in dialogue with user organisations," said Johannes Ludewig, CER Executive Director.
But EU transport chief Loyola de Palacio, who has championed the proposals, argues that the voluntary code does not work and that it does not ensure that passengers are informed about delays or cancellations.
"Voluntary agreements are all very well," De Palacio told reporters, "but we realised it was necessary to have mandatory rules to ensure that we achieve our goals."
Eurostar, which operates a range of cross-border services between Paris, London and Brussels said it would not comment on the proposals until it had studied them in full.
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