2011-09-30 irr - email-newsletter

www.interregiorail.eu [email protected] 30.9.2011
News concerning European Passenger Rail Authorities

(Mailing list: Passenger Rail Authorities in Europe)
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are sending you this newsletter because we have identified your organisation as a Passenger Rail
Authority that is responsible for organising and/or financing (regional) passenger rail transport in your
country. We have already been in contact with many of you, either through the Central European
project INTER-Regio-Rail, or else in order to gather information for our brochure on the organisation of
regional passenger rail transport in Europe, which will be published soon.
The aim of this newsletter is to inform you about our current activities in order to enhance networking
between and lobbying by passenger rail authorities in Europe. We plan to send you updates via this
newsletter from time to time.
If you have further questions or suggestions about our work, or if you no longer wish to receive our
information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours faithfully,
Susanne Henckel
General Manager, German Association of Passenger Rail Authorities
Our aims

The experience of the various passenger rail authorities in Germany is that each authority’s work is
greatly facilitated if they liaise on their activities with the other German passenger rail authorities and
jointly communicate their positions to the political decision-makers in our country. 12 years ago,
therefore,
(Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Schienenpersonennahverkehr, BAG-SPNV), via which body they have since successfully cooperated. In recent years, new challenges have emerged: our work is increasingly influenced by European policy, be it the EU railway packages, European Commission white papers or many of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability. These documents heavily influence our national legislation, many of them become binding for the rail sector, and thus have either positive or negative effects on our work. It has come to our attention that many rail service stakeholders are involved in debating European legislation in Brussels, but that to date the voice of passenger rail authorities as such has been underrepresented, although we have specific points of view that differ in certain aspects from those of, This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF www.interregiorail.eu [email protected] for example, the state railway undertakings (CER), non-incumbent railway undertakings (EPTO) or
passengers (EPF).
With the help of the INTER-Regio-Rail project, implemented with financial support from the CENTRAL
EUROPE programme, we therefore aim to convey our own points of view in Brussels, and to comment
on and discuss European rail transport policy.
Our activities: Compendium on the organisation of Passenger Rail Transport in Europe

Thanks to support from the German Federal Transnational Cooperation Programme
(Bundesprogramm Transnationale Zusammenarbeit), we are currently preparing the publication of a
comparative study on the organisation of regional passenger rail transport in the EU 27 countries plus
Switzerland and Norway. In recent months we have collected significant quantities of information and
data and checked them with the passenger rail authorities in all these countries. The output of this
work will also contain the contact details of the passenger rail authorities, thus enabling us to stay in
touch more easily. It will be published as a compendium entitled “Regional Passenger Rail transport in
Europe - An Overview and Comparison of its Organisation and Structure”.
Our activities: Best practice examples for improving regional rail transport

As part of INTER-Regio-Rail, we are working on a collection of best practice examples for improving
regional rail transport. The goal is to gather examples from all over Europe that can serve as a source
of inspiration for authorities involved in rail transport. They focus on customer orientation, and may be
examples of good marketing, technical innovations improving access for the disabled, or projects that
support recreational use of trains such as bicycle trains etc. The project is structured as a “work-in-
progress” - if you have projects you would like to add, we would be happy to receive a short
contribution!

Here is a brief taster to whet your appetite: the “GroeneHalte” project in Belgium, which tries to
improve the usability of public transport for leisure travel.
The Belgian passenger association TreinTramBus started the “Groene Halte” (Green Stops) initiative in 2004. The idea was simple: the walker travels by public transport to “Groene Halte A” and there finds the beginning of a hiking trail that leads him to “Groene Halte B”. The advantage compared to trips using cars is obvious - there is no need to walk back to the starting point. All walks have similar features: the walk is between 7 and 15 km long and can therefore easily be accomplished within a day. The start and end points of the walk are served by train at least once per hour. The routes are described in a brochure using both words and pictures. Background information on the region, nearby restaurants and useful phone numbers is also included. Today 30 “Groene Halte” hikes exist in Flanders. The project served as an inspiration for “Groene Halte Netherlands”, where several hiking routes have also been established in Gelderland. Several This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF www.interregiorail.eu [email protected] thousand copies of the booklets have been sold to date, although sales for the different booklets vary.
Especially popular are the routes along the coast. Booklets are sold for about €2 to €2.50 via the
internet, in tourist information centres or at train stations. The hikes are advertised with a “Groene
Halte” logo and a map of the hiking trail at each station and over the internet.
Our positions on European regional passenger rail policy

In recent months we have discussed our positions on the recast of the first EU railway package and on
the European Commission’s white paper on transport within BAG-SPNV. We are currently trying to
make ourselves heard in the ongoing discussions within the European Parliament’s TRAN Committee,
and with this aim have drafted two specific policy briefs - see annexes 1 and 2. If you would also like
to sign them you are most welcome. Please give us your feedback by the end of next week,
since the discussion in Brussels continues.
For future position papers, we promise we will involve you much earlier, and will be back in touch with
you soon with concrete proposals.
Upcoming events: Rencontres nationales du transport public, 12-14 October 2011 in
Strasbourg (F)

The
des Autorités Responsables de Transport) will be organising a round table discussion on future
cooperation between European passenger transport authorities during the Rencontres Nationales du
Transport Public (National public transport meeting) on 13 October 2011 in Strasbourg. Participants
in the discussion will include Jean-Paul Martinerie, president of the commission "Europe" of GART,
Alfredo Peri, president of Federmobilitá, the Italian association of transport associations and
passenger transport authorities and Bernhard Wewers, president of BAG-SPNV.
We warmly invite you to attend this event, which promises to lay the groundwork for our future
cooperation!
Upcoming events: INTER-Regio-Rail partner meeting, 19-21 October 2011 in Liberec (CZ)

The partners in INTER-Regio-Rail will be meeting from 19 to 21 October 2011 in Liberec (Czech
Republic) in order to discuss, inter alia, the lobbying of passenger rail authorities for regional rail
transport at national level. If you are not an INTER-Regio-Rail partner but are interested in attending
this meeting, we suggest you contact Ludger Sippel at BAG-SPNV: [email protected].
Do you have further questions about our work, or do you no longer wish to receive this newsletter?
Please contact [email protected]
This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF

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