News

de en fr nl

2005-03-12

Annual report 2004

Our federation is still young, but it is growing. During 2004 we welcomed 3 new members and we now have 17 associations or bodies in 11 European countries. We welcomed Italy and the Czech Republic and we now represent many thousands of rail customers from Bohumin to Hendaye, from Galway to Palermo. We have also made contact with individuals or associations in several other countries, from Spain to Sweden to Hungary. I am confident that these approaches will bring fruitful results.

The General Meeting and Conference at Leipzig was our first meeting in Germany. All members who made the journey to this historic city of European significance found the gathering interesting and valuable. Among the inspiring accounts by the speakers let us cite the growth of cross-border services between Germany and the Czech Republic, the integrated regional public transport system with co-operation between public and private sectors, and the train-tram project at Zwickau. Since then the Administrative Council has had meetings in Brussels, Ghent and London.

Our federation is now an international non-profit association under Belgian law. We received royal approval in August. Then we decided upon the rules for our finances and the conduct of our business and a service agreement with the Bond van Trein-, Tram- en Busgebruikers for administrative support.

During 2004 EPF has been financed solely by its members, of whom the majority are voluntary associations. With these modest resources we have done a lot. But with greater resources we hope to develop our work.

Activities

  1. We have established a website, with links to and from several other sites, thanks to Rian van der Borgt and Kees Smilde, who have also developed a rapid method of electronic consultation and communication: "epf-list". It is now possible to surf the internet and discover the members of EPF and its policies, including its manifesto in four languages.
  2. Our Chairman was a speaker at the European Training Centre for Railways seminar at Bruges in July and the Salzburg Transport Conference in October. These were good opportunities to explain the work of EPF and its aspirations for international travellers. Trevor Garrod has been invited back to Bruges for July 2005.
  3. In the autumn we opened our dialogue with MEPs on the subject of passengers' rights and obligations. Our individual associations have had had discussions with the MEPs who represent their own countries, but now they are doing it together, in a co-ordinated manner. All members of the Parliament's Committee Transport and Tourism received an e-mail with our comments on this important topic. Special thanks are due to Josef Schneider, Jean-Paul Jacquot and Rian van der Borgt for their work in this respect and to several other colleagues who contributed to it.
  4. Our representatives had four meetings with DGTREN of the European Commission, with whom we have also had exchanges of correspondence on various subjects. We have also made contact with the new Transport Commissioner, M. Jacques Barrot.
  5. Representatives of EPF have taken part in meetings with the CER (Community of European Railways) and Josef Schneider contributed to their report on their passenger charter.
  6. Christopher Irwin was nominated as EPF representative on the European Rail Agency, where he can discuss international questions with people from the industry.
  7. Rufus Barnes, accompanied by Belgian and French colleagues, started regular meetings with Eurostar directors. Pierre Havelange is in the process of preparing for a similar dialogue with Thalys directors.
  8. We have received invitations to meetings on Train Service Monitoring. Marc Broeckaert and Peter Staelens have been concerned with these links and they have also played an important part in other discussions with the Commission and other bodies in Brussels.

Topics

  1. International train journeys must be easy, and the fares must represent good value. In other words it is necessary to attract customers by good prices for a good product. That is one of the aspirations of our study group "International long-distance train journeys" which has continued its work under the chairmanship of Albert Lambert and Peter Romen. Our affiliated organisations ALACF (Luxembourg) and ACTP (Wallonia) have also embarked on discussions on the subject of cross-border trains and fares, while in the Netherlands and Great Britain the associations RDS/Railfuture and ROVER have pursued the question of international ticket sales. We have also made contact with the Italian association Viaggi e Libertà which is concerned about the future of Inter Rail tickets. It is of course important that train operators adapt to new conditions. They now have competition from low-cost airlines. One can buy tickets and make reservations on the internet. But in England we say, "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket." We also want accessibility and diversity for all Europeans and for overseas visitors to our Continent. These are important passengers' rights and it is good that the European Commission interests itself in them.
  2. For competitions with airlines we need a level playing field. Therefore, should we not reconsider the question of tax on aircraft fuel, at least for short-distance flights? Here is another topic that we should like to discuss with people of influence. In this respect we now have productive contact with Allianz pro Schiene which has been studying this question.
  3. Yet another very important aspect of our work is learning from one another. Our 17 associations and bodies can share experiences and information. We have done this on international ticket sales and the availability of national timetables, seamless journeys and travel for people of impaired mobility. Our members have enquired about how the problem of overcrowding on trains is tackled in different countries. In an international railway industry it is useful to know something about operators in one country who could be interested in running trains in another. What are the experiences and possibilities of private and tourist railways? All these questions have been posed and attempts have been made to provide answers.

The future

Our work programme will try to strengthen our efforts in all those areas which are important to present and potential rail users. I should like to thank all members of the Administrative Council of EPF and many other colleagues who have contributed to our progress to date. I hope that our team will continue to develop our federation and its work.

Trevor Garrod
Chairman