92000E3901

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3901/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 December 2000)

Subject: Substantial increase in road and rail tunnels as a means of dual land use

1. Can the Commission confirm that for a long time tunnels for road and rail transport were something exceptional, originally only used for crossing mountain ranges and subsequently for crossing broad waterways where an above-ground solution was not a realistic alternative, but that developments in technology now make it possible and financially feasible to build many more tunnels?

2. Can the Commission also confirm that local, regional and national authorities of the Member States increasingly regard the construction of tunnels as a means of extending the land available for traffic in densely-populated areas through dual land use, partly with a view to sparing the countryside and limiting noise pollution?

3. Can the Commission provide figures on the increasing extent to which Member States are drawing up and implementing plans for building tunnels just below the surface of relatively flat areas to provide crossing-free metro lines, high-speed rail lines, goods rail lines and car tunnels?

4. Does the Commission agree that the criteria for deciding to build tunnels should be not only the use of space, speed of transport and construction costs, but also the safety and survival prospects of other transport users?

5. Can the Commission provide figures on the extent to which, as a result of the substantial increase in the number of tunnels, the risk of major fires and explosions similar to disasters in recent years in the Franco-Italian and Austrian alpine areas (Mont Blanc, Tauern and Kaprun) will increase?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(1 March 2001)

Although the techniques used in driving tunnels or cutting and covering roads has made considerable progress, this form of civil engineering is still very expensive. These options thus do not offer any economically realistic alternative as compared with surface routes where these are possible.

Tunnel building is the responsibility of the local, regional or national authorities. These will decide which new infrastructures are to be produced on a case-by-case basis as a function of technical, economic, or environmental constraints and of the local inhabitants' interests and opinions. The Commission does not have in its possession any statistics on any current projects in the Member States and on any risks that such projects might entail. Nor, so far, has it noted any tendency towards preferential treatment for tunnel building.

As regards the intended action at Community level, the Honourable Member is invited to refer to the answer to his Question E-3902/00(1).

(1) See page 80.