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Parliamentary question - E-002007/2021Parliamentary question
E-002007/2021

European cross-border rail services - public-service remit

Question for written answer  E-002007/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Tom Vandenkendelaere (PPE)

2021 is the European Year of Rail, which aims to highlight rail as a sustainable, smart and safe mode of transport.[1] The Commission wants to encourage both people and businesses to choose the train and thus help the EU achieve its climate targets. The Green Deal prioritises the target of transporting 75% of freight by rail and inland waterway. Better and more efficient rail services could also replace the many short-haul flights to destinations in Europe. At all events, the revival of night trains in recent years is a positive development.[2]

Rail operators, however, are encountering many obstacles to the development of these cross-border rail networks, for the simple reason that, unlike air travel for example, railways are inherently national. National railway operators thus focus on carrying out their domestic and not a European public-service remit, to the detriment of international services and interoperability.

Last updated: 3 May 2021
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