CER, EIM, ERFA, UIP, UIRR and UNIFE share the view that the Graz Declaration can mark the beginning of a new era of clean, safe and affordable mobility for the benefit of Europe?s citizens, the environment, and society at large, and reiterate the importance of keeping rail at the heart of national and EU policies for a decarbonized and clean transportation of the future.

One year after the reopening of the Rastatt line ERFA, NEE and UIRR highlight the lessons learnt and the positive steps taken to tackle rail freight's weak points, while mentioning some issues that remain open to this day. Never again must the closure of a small stretch of railway line lead to such chaos and wide-reaching economic damage.

Many rail freight services cross the borders of countries where different languages are spoken. At the moment European legislation states that locomotive drivers must be B1 level competency in every country in which they drive a train. This means that rail freight operators must invest in expensive training and that they must carefully roster their train drivers to only drive on certain routes.

ERFA and ALLRAIL wrote a joint press release on Polish rail incumbent PKP's plan to launch actions that may lead to even more centralised control of the rail system in Poland. Any move to even more centralised control will turn the clock backwards.

The ERFA Annual Event focussed on the actions needed to improve the competitive offer of rail through reducing track access charges, improving the reliability of train services and making the case for strong co-ordinated Infrastructure Manager contingency plans.

ERFA, NEE and UIRR jointly published a study realised by HTC (Hanseatic Transport Consultancy) which evaluates the economic damage of the Rastatt interruption. The assessment of the economic damage has been made by determining the value-added losses for the manufacturing and service sectors: the result shows losses of at least 2.048 billion euro.

Following the latest Dutch government's decision which allows Prorail to introduce new mark-ups in the rail freight sector, ERFA highlights that the future mark-ups should reflect the ability of rail to compete with road rather than looking inwardly at the railway system.

ERFA welcomes Spinetta report's general orientation: the French railways needs more competition! The report initiative is a positive step forwards; it provides hope that France will start moving on the right trajectory towards a policy of supporting modal shift to rail, with measures enhancing a healthy competition. The French government's orientations, warmly applauded, are expected to be urgently implemented.

The French initiative signals a positive step forwards in terms of modal shift and support for the rail freight sector. More still needs to be done to address critical quality issues on the French rail market. In line with newly adopted EU rules on access to rail facilities it is essential that non-discriminatory and transparent access for all refurbished sidings be granted to all operators.

Rail freight companies set out their priorities following the Rastatt disaster: Infrastructure managers must take responsibility for developing one standard infrastructure if rail is to be competitive with road. Full liability for the financial damages caused by Rastatt must also be settled by DB Netz in the short term. The lost customer confidence in rail as a reliable partner in the supply chain must be regained

The unfriendly business environment for rail freight and weak state of the industry were the key themes at a meeting of private rail freight companies, as ERFA held its annual strategy workshop in Brussels this week.

The adoption of new EU rules to improve the coordination of infrastructure works is a positive step forward for rail's competitiveness. Improved rail performance is essential to make rail more customer-friendly and to encourage a shift of goods from road to rail. ERFA urges infrastructure managers to ensure the success of the new framework for organising infrastructure works!