Railways Archives

EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc has to make good on a few promises she made before the summer break.

The European Commission promised sweeping changes to its regulation of car and truck pollution in an effort to slash carbon emission levels by 2030.

Switzerland opens the world's longest and deepest rail tunnel through the heart of the Alps today (1 June) in an engineering marvel that stands as a symbol of European unity at a time of increasing fragmentation.

A new report from the European Court of Auditors says €28 billion in EU funds didn't do enough to boost the share of freight shipped on railways—instead, that figure dropped despite beefed up investments.

EU member states are still squabbling over draft rules that will open up railway markets to competition, even after negotiators struck a deal last week on the long debated file.

National experts will consider lessons learnt from terrorist attacks in Moscow and in Madrid in a meeting on 11 April to improve security at the airports and mass public transportation systems in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks, EU officials told Euractiv.com.

The new head of the European Commission's transport section (DG MOVE) had harsh words yesterday (15 March) for new rules to open up Europe's “static” rail sector, which he said have been butchered in negotiations with the European Parliament and Council.

An international road transport organisation has warned that it is 'only a matter of time' until refugees in Calais seriously injure or kill truck drivers.

Within ten years, the Brenner Base project, the longest railway tunnel in the world, is expected to be completed and operational. The EU has announced that it will contribute €1.2 billion to its construction. EURACTIV Germany reports.

European railway companies will be allowed to offer domestic rail services in other countries from 2020 under new proposals agreed on Thursday(8 October) by European Union ministers.

Belgium on Monday (31 August) unveiled plans for a controversial system to collect data on all airline passengers, as well as international train and ferry travellers, in the wake of a foiled attack on a train running between Belgium and Paris.

The European Union will review railway security on high-speed international lines after last week's foiled attack in France. But officials warned on Monday (24 August) against overreaction.

The controversial high-speed train line between Lyon and Turin is to be examined by the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, amid huge cost overruns and allegations of mafia links in Italy. The EU has already contributed €450 million to the project, but France and Italy will claim a further €4 billion of EU funding. EURACTIV France reports.

Several devastating railway accidents, including one in Spain this week that is Europe’s deadliest since 1998, show little sign of being related to the EU’s fast-track effort to liberalise railways and separate infrastructure from passenger and cargo services, a safety official said.

Putting people and cargo onto the rails may be one way to reduce roadway air pollution, a key goal of the EU’s rail transport policy, but doing so creates another hazard for those living close to railways – noise.

Europe’s railways need more competition and less bureaucracy if they are to reverse the decline in use, Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said Tuesday (19 February) as he sought to warm up MEPs to a new liberalisation plan.

In a compromise aimed at countries like France and Germany, the European Commission on Wednesday (30 January) unveiled its latest plan to integrate rail services, allowing traditional state companies to maintain their hold on railway infrastructure as well as passenger and cargo services.

The EU’s top transport official says the troubled launch of a now-suspended high-speed rail service between Brussels and Amsterdam - christened the ‘flop train’ by angry passengers - is “not our problem” despite years of efforts to encourage such premium transnational rail service.

The leaders of France and Italy pledged on Monday (3 December) to push ahead with a high-speed rail link between Lyon and Turin despite a row over EU spending.

France’s plan to merge its railway and infrastructure operations has drawn criticism and a call for the European Commission to block the move.

European railway operators are pressing for an EU-wide response to the rising number of cable thefts, with desperate rail companies deploying helicopter patrols and sprinkling infrastructure with artificial DNA to deter crime.

The British government has torn up a deal awarding one of its biggest rail franchises to a private operator, in a humiliating U-turn that raises doubts about the government's handling of the privatised railways.

The European Parliament has moved a step closer towards establishing a single, liberalised European rail network after a round of voting on the proposed competition rules.

It is a project of extravagant dimensions and it has been blocked for almost 20 years by a protest of epic tenacity and occasional violence.