Jernbaneverket, ProRail and EIM welcome the endorsement by the Ministries of the ‘’Declaration of Rail Freight Corridors’’ at the TEN-T Days 2016, and express their support for the sector’s statement therein attached.

The 2016 edition of the TEN-T Days took place on 20th-22nd June in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, organised by the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU and by the European Commission (DG MOVE). On Tuesday 21st June, a Business Conference on ‘’rail freight’’ took place, bringing together stakeholders and actors from the rail sector to discuss the most compelling issues for rail freight in Europe.

At the Business Conference, a ‘’Declaration on Rail Freight Corridors’’ was adopted by the Ministries of the 28 EU Member States. The Declaration includes a joint statement, commonly agreed and endorsed by the rail sector at large. Both agreements aim at setting the way forward to overcome the operational/technical obstacles for Rail Freight Corridors, unlocking their potential for the benefit of rail freight as a whole, as well as bringing Member States and the industry together behind common visions and goals.

In her key-note speech, EIM’s Executive Director Monika Heiming pointed out how the setting-up phase for Rail Freight Corridors is now concluded – all nine Corridors are in place – and it is time to deliver. EIM strongly supports a market-based approach for Rail Freight Corridors, shifting the focus on concrete market needs. A greater consultation process between end-users and the Management Boards should be sought for. Effective dialogue and collaboration within the Advisory Group is already a reality in some RFC and should become common practice. On the top of it comes the key-role and responsibilities of the infrastructure managers within the Management Boards, in order to ensure a responsive governance structure and deliver the right services to all their customers. Finally, Mrs. Monika Heiming expressed support for the Rail Freight Corridors in continuing providing a comparable set of key performance indicators (KPIs) on the quality of the service within PRIME.

Jernbaneverket (JBV) – Norway’s infrastructure manager and Member of EIM –, represented by Traffic and Marketing Director Bjorn Kristiansen, joined the first Panel discussion. The focus was on key-messages from the sector’s statement on how to improve the performance of rail freight. Mr. Bjorn Kristiansen observed how in Norway there is political support for rail freight and highlighted the importance to take a ‘’Corridor approach’’, i.e. putting international rail freight on the agenda, increasing investment in cross border lines. A correct implementation of the RFC will also enable the infrastructure managers to improve the cross-border cooperation between them. It is now time to further develop the corridors using input with the market – including the end customers – an approach already in development in Scanmed RFC. In this context, the role of the infrastructure managers will be fundamental in order to provide adequate capacity for all users and ensure an evolution of the RFCs which is primarily market-driven.

ProRail – Netherlands’ rail infrastructure manager and Member of EIM –, represented by President-Directeur Mr. Pier Eringa, joined the second Panel discussion on future strategies for rail freight. It was stressed that rail needs to be fully integrated in the freight mobility chain. In this regard, more connections and interactions with the other modes of transport are crucial. Mr. Pier Eringa observed that this is particularly true in a city like Rotterdam, hosting a world-leading port with an expectation of growth in the range of 20% to 40% up to 2030. The port of Rotterdam is already very accessible by rail, and ProRail fully supports the ambition pf the Port of Rotterdam to further develop the transport of freight via the railways. The Rail Freight Corridors will be a driving force for the further development of ProRail’s role as the rail network’s manager.