92002E1705

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1705/02

by Gary Titley (PSE) to the Commission

(7 June 2002)

Subject: Euromed Train

A constituent of mine recently travelled on the Euromed train in Spain. He noted that there were signs indicating that financial support for the project had come from the European Union. He also noted that the train has poor accessibility for disabled people since the train floor is nearly one metre above the platform. My constituent would like to know why EU money was spent on this project without a requirement for better access for the disabled.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(11 July 2002)

Regarding access for people of reduced mobility to facilities open to the public, the Commission can only state that in the absence of a Community legal framework on accessibility of such infrastructure it is up to the responsible national authorities to see that national requirements are respected.

On the specific case raised by the Honourable Member, i.e. the Euromed rail link between Alicante and Barcelona, assistance from the Structural and Cohesion Funds was granted for track modification, electrification and safety improvement and also for development/improvement of certain stations. For more specific information on the aspect of the project to which his question relates and on application of Spanish legislation in this area, the Commission invites the Honourable Member to contact the project managing authority: Ministerio de Hacienda, Secretaría de Estado de Presupuestos y Gastos, Dirección General de Fondos Comunitarios y Financiación Territorial, Paeseo de la Castellana 162, 28071 Madrid.

In future however, in the context of implementation of Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on interoperability of the trans-European high speed rail system(1) and Parliament and Council Directive 2001/16/EC of 19 March 2001 on interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system(2), train accessibility from the platform for people of reduced mobility will be taken into account where all new investment and development/improvement work is concerned.

Further, the Commission in its White Paper on future transport policy(3) states its intention of proposing a regulation on the rights and obligations of passengers on international trains(4). This will contain provisions on improving the accessibility of trains and stations to people of reduced mobility and on information on access. The Commission will also call on the rail sector to take action in parallel, each acting in its sphere of responsibility.

(1) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996.

(2) OJ L 110, 20.4.2001.

(3) European transport policy for 2010: time to decide (COM(2001) 370 final).

(4) COM(2002) 18 final.