2007-06-21
Yesterday, the European Parliament and the Council have finally reached an agreement on the Third Railway Package. This legislative package contains a set of regulations which prepare the liberalisation of international rail travel in 2010. Trevor Garrod, President of the European Passengers Federation, strongly welcomes the adoption of the Third Railway Package: "This is good news for passengers. It will give passengers a better deal and, by making the railways more competitive, help ensure their future. The EU has taken on board a lot of what we have been saying on behalf of long-suffering rail passengers. It must now extend these protections to all modes of public transport, including buses, coaches and ferries."
EPF - the European voice of public transport users - welcomes the introduction of basic passenger rights on national and international trains, which clearly define the liability of train operators in case of death, injury or loss of luggage, the non-discriminatory obligations towards persons with reduced mobility, the availability of tickets, proper insurances and the procurement of personal safety in stations and on trains.
The agreement also stipulates a number of extended rights on international railway journeys, which enter into force in 2010. In principle, EU member states can chose to implement these rights on national, regional and urban rail travel. They include compensations in case of delays (25% of the ticket in case of one hour delay, 50% in case of two hours), advanced financial compensation to victims (or their families) in case of accidents, guaranteed assistance and maximal accessibility of stations and trains for persons with reduced mobility, the possibility to transport bikes and the setting up of a complaints handling system. Station managers and train operators are also obliged to effectively communicate the rights of passengers.
EPF is satisfied with most basic and extended rights, although some items are still missing, for example passenger consultation. It further regrets that - due to the lobbying of the railway operators and the Eastern European countries - member states have the possibility to delay the implementation of the extended rights in national, urban and regional rail journeys up to 15 years. EPF urges all railway operators not to limit themselves to the scope of the regulation, but to actively improve the quality of their services in consultation with their passengers.
EPF is a federation of 25 public transport users' organisations in 14 European organisations - the acting secretariat is located in Gent (Belgium)