CER: European Green Deal will foster railways
The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) appreciates the European Green Deal. This long-term plan of the European Commission is aimed at full decarbonisation of the continent by 2050. It will foster the development of the European rail sector that, in its turn, will contribute to achieving the ambitious goal.
“Railways also welcome the intention of the Commission to continue its work on sustainable finance and strengthening the foundations for sustainable investments, and to support research and innovation in clean transport; they look forward to exchanging further on the strategy for sustainable and smart mobility,” CER noted in its official statement. At the same time, it emphasised that the European Parliament and the Member States must adopt several policy measures in order to achieve full decarbonisation.
Zero-emissions railways
Earlier, CER proposed the European Parliament and the Member States to implement a number of tools and measures that will contribute to modal shift. Inter alia, ‘user pays’ and ‘polluter pays’ principles must be put into practice. This allows the rail sector to compete with modes of transport at the level playing field. Also, the EU Member States must support the digitalisation of the rail sector, combined transport, last-mile infrastructure, the development of cross-border rail connections.
According to CER, the European stakeholders should join forces in order to promote and develop interoperability and interconnectivity between rail and road. “CER will work with Vice-President Timmermans, Commissioner Vălean and all other EU policymakers on the journey to provide all Europeans with more accessible and cleaner transport,” CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said.
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