Brussels, Belgium – Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for Transport on 7 november 2005 opened the Congress «Eurailspeed» in Milano with his speech ‘Developing the rail market in Europe’.

Jacques Barrot talked about the European Commission’s vision of the policy initiatives needed to develop the rail market in Europe.

Below you find the conclusion of his speech.

You can read the complete speech at /europa.eu.int/comm

Conclusion
Jacques Barrot: “Progress towards market integration and establishing an Integrated European Railway Area has been achieved so far. But this progress is limited. We still have a major task ahead to complete the project and to make the markets function efficiently, so that rail stops losing market shares vis-Ã -vis road. The European Commission is committed to pursue its efforts, which it has undertaken for more than a decade. I would like to appeal to the industry to support this process even more in the future.

Our common railway project is a great opportunity to give back to the sector a dynamism it had in its early days. A European integrated railway market will enable the actors, liberated from regulatory and technical barriers, to develop the services that the customers require. This would allow rail freight and rail passenger services to reverse the downward trend and reaffirm its position in the European transport system. I do not underestimate the restructuring efforts that it implies for most of the railway undertakings. But it is long due and it is the condition for the revitalisation of the railways.”