Rail transport statistics. Recast

2017/0146(COD)

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Karima DELLI (Greens/EFA, FR) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on rail transport statistics (recast).

The committee recommended that European Parliament adopt its position at first reading, taking over the Commission proposal and taking account of the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

According to the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Commission proposal does not include any substantive amendments other than those identified as such in the proposal, and that the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance.

The Commission proposal concerns a technical adaptation in the context of a recast procedure.

As stated in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the report, Parliament sought to extend the scope of the regulation. It had stressed the importance of having comprehensive and accurate statistics on freight and passenger transport, as well as data concerning cross-border connections or railway infrastructure equipment fitted with an ERTMS system. The aim being to obtain a clear picture of the evolution of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), and in particular the rail network. Parliament was unable to secure the incorporation of any such provisions in the legislative text.

The rapporteur, however, recalled the Commission's commitment to respond to Parliament's request in the negotiations on the revision of the Regulation. In particular, the Commission undertook to:

  • provide an analysis of sections of track which had been dismantled or those on which passenger or freight operations had ceased, taking due account of the infrastructure and of socio-economic and operational aspect;
  • provide a more detailed analysis for projects belonging to the TEN-T network.

The European Rail Agency (ERA) agreed to:

  • facilitate access to data concerning the length of the section of track equipped with ERTMS;
  • provide Eurostat with annual data regarding the number of vehicles equipped with ERTMS, on the basis of the European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles (ERATV) and the Centralised Virtual Vehicle Register (ECVVR).

The rapporteur stressed the importance of providing policy makers, as well as European citizens, with relevant information on the impact of EU policies in the field of transport and of the relevant investments.