Twenty-four leaders of European railways, including SNCF President Jean-Pierre Varando, want to work together to “Improving the attractiveness of railroads across the continent“, claimant”Huge European investment“to connect”A new European railway agreement“.
“The train is the most environmentally responsible motorized mode of transportation‘, argued the leaders in a column published in France in the newspaper du dimanche, regretting that”The share of railways in passenger and freight transport is still very low“.
“Because we share the conviction that railways play a major role in the fight against climate change, we are concretely committed to the development of trains in Europe“, they write before”European Railway Summitwhich should gather them on Monday at SNCF headquarters.
They promise improved customer experience, greener and recyclable trains, efforts to innovate and more diversified employment, and make way for women and youth.
This deal is ambitious: we can only succeed together
“This deal is ambitious: we can only succeed together“Despite the differences and competition between their companies, as they claim.”A common goal: to increase the share of railways in transport and thus contribute to achieving climate neutrality by 2050“.
“We need member states and the European Union. We invite them to support this charter by committing to setting clear goals for paradigm transformation at the national level‘, the leaders insist.
“New resources are needed to improve the financing of the rail and public transport system. To invest heavily in the modernization of rail networks, increasing their capacity and interoperability, to modernize rail cars, we need resources.“
A call for fair competition
They also called on Brussels and member states to “Promoting the rules of fair competition between modes of transport‘, taking into account their ecological footprint in particular.
The podium was signed on the French side by SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou, General Manager of Getlink (Eurotunnel) Yann Leriche and President of Lisea (franchisee of the Tours-Bordeaux line) Hervé Le Caignec, as well as general managers of Thalys and Eurostar subsidiaries for SNCF.
He also signed, among others, the heads of the German national railway companies Deutsche Bahn, Austrian ÖBB, Belgian SNCB, Danish DSB, Finnish VR, Hungarian MÁV, Italian FS, Luxembourg CFL, Dutch NS, Portuguese CP, Slovenian SZ and Swiss SBB.
