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2013-03-16

Annual report 2012

Introduction

2012 was the year of our tenth birthday - a good reason for our first presentation at the European Parliament and the formulation of a strategic plan for the development of EPF over the coming decade.

In 2002 there were 14 founding associations of our federation in 9 countries. We began 2013 with 34 members in 19 countries after accepting the association Navetteurs.be in Belgium. Our distribution list now comprises 1040 names and addresses.

Activities

  1. For the first time our Annual Conference took place in Austria. The topics of liberalisation, urban transport and European transport policy attracted nearly a hundred delegates from thirteen countries. We thank our Austrian colleagues for their hospitality and some interesting excursions.
  2. Our Administrative Council had three meetings, in Milan, Stuttgart and Ghent. During the weekends of these meetings it is also interesting to make trips on public transport in these cities and to renew contacts and make new acquaintanceships with other individual members of our affiliated associations.
  3. EPF has continued its dialogue with the international train operators Eurostar and Thalys and the Railteam consortium - a productive meeting took place with each of them in 2012 - and with the international organisations UITP and CER. A meeting was also held for the first time with the European Cyclists' Federation.
  4. Our participation in the projects of the European Commission has become ever more important for us. These are opportunities to influence transport policy, share good practice and often also earn additional income for EPF. The list is becoming longer and longer: ENERQI, USEmobility (both have just concluded), SecurED, Smart Move and SYNAPTIC; and then 3iBS (where we are going to play a consultative role) and the large NODES project which has just started.
  5. Our views have been requested by the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament on topics such as the 4th Railway Package and common passenger rights.
  6. Our Vice-Chairman still takes an important part in the work of the European Railway Agency promoting interoperability in the interests of passengers and of freight customers and his colleagues there have elected him as Chairman for three years. He also plays a key role on the Intergovernmental Commission for the Channel Tunnel.
  7. The ideas and experiences of individual members of our affiliated associations and also very useful to us - for example concerning the need for flexispace in public transport vehicles, bicycles in international trains and disruptions to rail traffic because of engineering work on the tracks. These are topics in which we became involved in 2012 and our efforts are continuing in 2013.
  8. Our working group on International long-distance Journeys met twice and is making progress with a study on "the final mile" - when one gains time by using the high-speed train, why then lose it when coping with the difficulties of urban or regional transport? The group is also currently concerned with gaps in the international network and financial support for cross-border trains.
  9. Several members of our Council and other representatives have taken part in more than 25 conferences and seminars during 2012, as delegates or speakers. These events took place in Brussels, Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, Strasbourg, Bad Salzdetfurth, Zagreb and Stirling.
  10. EPF has submitted its reactions to consultations at European level concerning the review of rail passengers' rights; urban transport and especially Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in large cities; railway rolling stock, and charges for road use.
  11. Sometimes actions take longer than we had hoped, for the great part of our work is done by volunteers and there are limits to what one can do in one's spare time. Even employees of associations do not possess unlimited time. In 2013 we want to finish the upgrading of our website; decide how to best develop the comparative studies of urban public transport in large cities; and conduct research into aspects of international journeys. For such actions we need time, money and sometimes a combination of the two. In this respect we have also begun to involve university students.

Topics

  1. In a period of economic austerity, it is wise to invest in rail infrastructure - that is a message which EPF sent at the end of October to the Council of Ministers. There are good examples in Great Britain and Spain and lessons must be learned from these. We stress the value of this investment in developing sustainable means of transport and creating high quality employment.
  2. European passenger rights now exist in the four most important modes. They are not perfect, but they exist. It is necessary now to observe their implementation and collect examples of good and bad practice.
  3. The train, the plane, the coach and from time to time the boat are in competition. That could be beneficial for the customer, but the competition must take place on a level playing field.
    And for multimodal journeys? The longer the journey, the more likely that it will be multimodal. In these cases we have to have integration. At the moment there are problems with certain ferries across the Baltic Sea and the Irish Sea, for example, for customers without cars.
  4. Digital or paper information? This is a questions which we have started to consider. One could also add: information via the human voice. There is a role for all three means. The presence of staff, their training, their motivation - that is one of the keys to passenger satisfaction.
    As for electronic sources of information, we are proud to have supported the TAP-TSI (Telematic Application for Passengers) and the project for a European international journeyplanner. It remains a priority to improve information and ticketing for many cross-border journeys.
  5. On December 4th some 60 decision-makers at European level attended our presentation at the Parliament in Brussels with the title "What Passengers Expect". This important presentation is now on the internet for everyone. It remains our central theme.

Conclusion

We have done more and more with resources which are still quite modest. We do our best to help the members of our affiliated associations.

Our 10-year strategic plan is based on the principle that we continue our efforts to give a voice to current and potential passengers, but we make those efforts more effective. That presupposes that we increase our income and this would be a challenge for 2013.

I should like to thank all colleagues for their productive contributions to our work during 2012 and I look forward with pleasure to further progress in 2013.

Trevor Garrod
Chairman