Ștefan Mușoiu MEP, of the European Parliament’s S&D Group, and member of the Romanian Social-Democrat Party (PSD), precipitated an exchange of views with the European Commission by asking his first parliamentary question requesting additional funding for modernisation and systematisation of railways all along the European Union.
A member of the Tourism and Transport Committee (TRAN) of the European Parliament, Mușoiu campaigns for the fastest possible implementation of the automatic digital coupling system for freight wagons in order to save valuable time, money and to reduce, or even totally eliminate, delays due to the existing outdated procedures and systems.
The transport and mobility of goods and people by rail can be maximised at the EU level, especially as currently it does not enjoy the full popularity it deserves, at least not in all Member States.
“Instead, everyone here, in the European Parliament, invokes intermodal freight transport, which also involves an effective and much cheaper way of moving goods and people,” declared Mușoiu.
The social democrat member explained that, in addition to the lack of a realistic long- term plan at EU level for high-speed railways, Member states’ national railway system have been realised without adequate cross-border coordination, as confirmed by the most recent report of the European Court of Auditors.
Why are solutions to modernisation of existing rail tracks delayed?
The USA, the Russian Federation and many other countries of the world, small and large, have abandoned the screw coupling of freight cars and switched to the automated system way by the middle of the 20th century.
In contrast, European countries have not resorted to this technical innovation, not even nowadays.
So now it’s time to jump right into automatic digital coupling. This procedure meets both the needs of climate protection and those related to increasing the volume of efficient rail freight transport.
This whole system will ensure increased competitiveness, facilitate the development of integrated digital services, reduce noise, as well as the risk of derailment argues the S&D representative.
Ștefan Mușoiu also emphasised the problematic background and add in the fact that another great shortcoming for train transport from one part of the European Union to another is the different sizes of the gauges in different member states. In addition, the multitude of tickets one needs to buy for the entire journey transiting several countries to the final destination represent a problem to be addressed.
Considering all these advantages offered by new technologies, I request the European Commission about its proposals on financial allocations for the most urgent implementation of the automatic digital coupling standard, as well as for the timetable of implementation, added the MEP.
Private meeting with the European Commissioner for Transport
Ștefan Mușoiu says that during a tête-à-tête meeting he had with the designated Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, he emphasised the importance of increasing the safety of travelers regardless of the type of transport used, as well as the need to establish a unique train ticket purchase system for any cross-border travel.
“I asked the designated Commissioner about new regulations regarding the situation generated by overbooking, i.e. the sale of more plane tickets than the available seats in the aircraft, a context in which more and more of us end up in, unfortunately. Fortunately, the Commissioner designated for Transport provided assurance of his support for all my efforts and parliamentary activity in this direction,” Ștefan Mușoiu, MEP also pointed out.
