brussels – European Rail Campaign (UK)

BRUSSELS DECLARATION PUTS UK TRANSPORT POLICY TO SHAME

Nigel Perkins — Wed, 29 May 2024 22:37:54 +0000

On the 4th April 2024 all 27 EU Transport Ministers met in Brussels and issued a 20-point formal declaration outlining the most sustainable Transport Policy for the next European Parliament from 2024 to 2029. They are calling on the parliament to “Make rail transport the backbone of European mobility”. This is in stark contrast to the current UK Government’s complete lack of interest in expanding the capacity of our rail network. We can only hope that after the UK election in July, the new Government will have a more enlightened approach to rail. Even though the UK is not an EU member state, we have listed below 3 of the most important points which we believe could help our campaign:-

No2: Propose an EU-wide master plan to increase the supply of rail services for freight and passengers. The Commission must ensure that future EU policies all contribute to increasing supply and to the modal shift towards rail transport.

No 3: To ensure, through a new legislative proposal, that a passenger can easily compare, book and pay for their door-to-door train journey in a trans-European perspective, while being assured of the continuity of their journey, regardless of whether one or several rail companies are involved.

No 4: Develop a dedicated strategy for night train passenger services, including reduced fares, to offer a viable alternative to short- and medium-haul flights in Europe.

For the full 20-point declaration, please go to https://belgian-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/the-belgian-presidency-outlines-the-future-of-european-mobility-in-a-brussels-declaration/?utm_source=dsms-presidency&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Het%20Belgische%20voorzitterschap%20schetst%20de%20Europese%20mobiliteit%20van%20de%20toekomst%20in%20een%20Verklaring%20van%20Brussel

EURC(UK) – THE CAMPAIGN MOVES INTO IT’S FIFTH YEAR

Nigel Perkins — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 16:05:24 +0000

We celebrated our 4th anniversary at our annual general meeting held in Birmingham on the 8th of December, noting a steadily growing membership. We were pleased to note that Eurostar were now running almost the same as the pre-covid service, even if this was not at pre-covid fares and still not serving Ashford and Ebbsfleet. Recently, there were more rumours in the press that, yet another European train operator wants to run a service to the UK via the channel tunnel – this time it was Swiss Federal Railways from Basel to London. Whether any of these 3 “plans” to compete against Eurostar see the light of day remains to be seen.

What can we look forward to as we approach 2024 ?

>>>We now have night train connections with Eurostar from Brussels to Berlin 6 days a week and one of these will be extended to Prague 3 times a week at the end of March.

>>> A growing high-speed train network in Spain, with more lines open and more services to many destinations.

>>> Many new trains coming into service in countries all over Europe (unlike the UK with very few new train orders placed in 2023).

BELGIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER SHOWS US THE WAY FORWARD

Nigel Perkins — Sun, 25 Jun 2023 17:39:06 +0000

Earlier this month Georges Gilkenet the Belgian Transport Minister gave a very positive interview at the RailTech 2023 conference held in Brussels. He outlined the long-term commitment his Government has made to develop the rail network over the next 10 years. During the interview he made clear the importance of rail in helping the Belgian Government meet their targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He also confirmed his commitment to develop Brussels as a night train hub by announcing that night trains will pay no track access charges or energy costs in Belgium for the next 2 years.

You can find out more here at: https://www.railtech.com/all/2023/06/09/belgian-minister-gilkinet-talks-rail-challenges-night-trains-and-more/, where he gave a 12-minute interview in English.

This is in marked contrast to the sense of drift in the UK where the Government shows no sense of urgency in dealing with the serious climate change issues. Track access charges on HS1 – our one and only rail link with Europe are among the highest in Europe – yet the Government has no plans to deal with this. Eurostar still cannot run a full service due to limited capacity for post-brexit border controls at London St Pancras, Paris and Amsterdam.

“Eurostar’s shrinking ambitions 7 years after the Brexit vote” were reported recently in The Guardian at : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/23/eurostar-brexit-cross-channel-tunnel-disneyland-paris-amsterdam

A NEW NIGHT TRAIN CONNECTION FROM BRUSSELS TO BERLIN HAS STARTED.

Nigel Perkins — Mon, 29 May 2023 10:10:14 +0000

On the evening of Thursday 25th May the first European Sleeper left Berlin at 22.56 arriving in Brussels at around 9.30 the next morning. The return service to Berlin then left Brussels at 19.22 on Friday 26th May arriving in Berlin around 7.00 the next morning. This new service, running 3 times a week offers useful connections with the Eurostar service from Brussels to London and can also be joined at Rotterdam & Amsterdam. They hope to extend this service to Dresden and Prague next year.

For further details see: https://www.europeansleeper.eu/en

The launch of the new service got a lot of good publicity including this article in The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/may/29/berlin-to-brussels-night-train-renaissance-gathers-speed-new-european-sleeper

NIGHT TRAIN CAMPAIGN STEPS UP A GEAR

Nigel Perkins — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 18:22:37 +0000

On the 16th September our colleagues from Back on Track in Belgium, Germany, Denmark & Sweden organised a series of events to promote the need for a Night Train from Brussels to Malmo in the south of Sweden. Such a service would be very useful for people in the UK, as we could then connect directly into this service via an afternoon Eurostar from London. We have posted a link to a clip from Back-on-Track Belgium, which illustrates the various events which took place on that day. The link also shows a suggested timetable and some information about the various towns and cities served along the route. Although most of the text is in English, there is a bit in French and there is always Google Translate if you do not want to practice your French. Well worth a look at https://www.backontrackbelgium.be/brussels-malmo