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2012-03-10

Annual report 2011

Introduction

In 2011 we had our largest conference and our largest financial turnover. We have begun the year 2012 with our largest number of members, for the entry of the Norwegian association For Jernbane has brought EPF to 33 members in 19 European countries.

We also took the opportunity in 2011 to evaluate our work for almost a decade and we began to draw up plans for our renewal and further development.

Activities

  1. On Saturday 12th March it rained in Barcelona. The 90 participants in our Annual Conference were however indoors all day listening to interesting guest speakers. On Sunday it was sunny and many of us got to know the city and its surroundings better, using public transport. We thank our Catalan colleagues for a productive weekend full of experiences.
  2. Our website is not just there to be read. Since January 2011 it has also contained a questionnaire for people who travel by the high-speed trains in the Railteam group. We and hopefully also the operators will learn of the good and bad experiences of the customers. We also held discussions with Eurostar and Thalys.
  3. Representatives of EPF gave presentations at conferences in Berlin, Budapest, Leuven, Debrecen, Brussels, Copenhagen, London and Lille.
  4. We had meetings with decision-makers, for example of the European Commission, and international bodies such as UITP and CER.
  5. We tried to deepen our contacts with Members of the European Parliament and in June we met members of several parties at the Parliament. EPF has joined Rail Forum Europe, which has enabled us to have further dialogue with Parliamentarians in Brussels and Strasbourg.
  6. Our Vice-Chairman has enhanced his work as passenger representative at the European Railway Agency and continued his discussions with organs of the Commission. He also became a member of the Rail Strategy Forum founded by Transport Commissioner Kallas. Other colleagues have supported him, so that we can influence the debates on topics such as passenger rights and interoperability.
  7. We have started to undertake a comparative study of public transport in European cities of more than a million inhabitants. We hope to issue a report by the end of 2012.
  8. Our project work continued. We have earned money but also gained experience through this work. During 2012 we hope to commence at least one further research project.
  9. Many of these actions are mentioned in our work programme, which we decide each year. Yet there are also issues to which we react. We try to give information and advice. Therefore we have spread examples of good practice to other associations or organisations - on "train and plane", regional rail services or bicycles by train.
  10. We also reacted to reports about the future of international trains between Germany, Austria. Slovenia and Croatia; and problems of night trains between France and Italy. Correspondence followed with operators and politicians.

Topics

  1. Passenger rights is a topic which has occupied us since the formation of our Federation. They exist now for passengers by rail and air; during 2013 they should also come into effect on the buses, coaches and ferries. We have always stressed that as far as possible such rights should be the comparable for all modes of public transport. We therefore welcome the fact that the Commission is now talking of the concept of "horizontal rights". We intend to take part in the coming debate.
  2. The "Eu-Journeyplanner" is also a project that we welcome. It is not necessary to "re-invent the wheel" because there are already good examples in some countries and regions. One can build on existing good practice when developing an international journeyplanner.
  3. Electronic sources of information belong to the 21st century and it is important that the passenger or customer adviser can find out in this way how best to undertake a journey by public transport and what options there are. However, one should not "put all one's eggs in one basket." There is still a role, for example, for paper-based information. We are preparing a position paper on this topic.
  4. The EU invests our taxes partly in transport infrastructure. We are not against that. It is however important, that investment for public transport is not diverted in other directions. This is why EPF reacted to the concerns of our Polish and Hungarian members, when their governments wanted to spend European cohesion funds on other projects. In co-operation with Members of the European Parliament and the Commission, we were successful with the Polish example and still await the outcome of the Hungarian one.
  5. Our report "Journeys without Borders", which we issued in October 2010, was in frequent demand and widely distributed in 2011. For 2012 we have plans to do further study of the gaps in international rail transport and the role of night trains.
  6. In the current financial crisis, we want governments and the European Union to be careful with our money; but infrastructure investment can benefit us in many respects and so EPF is also preparing a position paper on this question.

Conclusion

Our strength lies in the fact that we represent passengers; and that these passengers see Europe from the windows of the fast train, the local train, urban bus, tram or trolley bus; that they have direct experience of the underground, the ferry, sometimes the aeroplane and even the helicopter.

The conference room is important; but so is practical experience of travel by public transport. We combine these activities when we nurture our ongoing dialogue in both directions between EPF, its member associations and their individual members. That should be one of our priorities for the coming year.

I thank all colleagues for their productive work during 2011 and look forward to further progress in the year of our tenth birthday.

Trevor Garrod
Chairman