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Light rail works have started in Nice
Nice has been for a long time the largest French city without metro or light rail infrastructure, since the end of its tramway, sixty years ago. A tramway scheme has been designed and the main road works started in September. The scheme consists of three lines. The first line serves mainly the city itself, providing
Rail reform in Belgium on January 2005
SNCB, the Belgian national rail company is about to be split on January 1st 2005 in order to comply with the European Directive 2001/12/CE (first rail package). The new structure which has been approved by the federal government in March will be constituted by SNCB-Holding which will own both Infrabel, in charge of rail infrastructure,
Arriva expands in Germany and in Denmark
The British transport services company announced in September the 100% acquisition of Wulff Bus A/S for £10.3 million (€15.5 million). Wulff operates city and regional bus services in Jutland. (continental part of the country). Arriva, which also operates two rail franchises, has currently a 33% market share in the Jutland and a 40% market share
Towards a new organisation for Austrian national railway company
ÖBB is about to be converted in a holding, that will head up four independent operating Anonymous Companies in charge of the following activities: passengers transport, freight transport, traffic management, network building and upgrading. One objective pursued by this major reform is to bring public subsidies at a level of €4.1bn by 2010: they amount
New European Transport Research Knowledge Centre available on the Internet
A new website, featuring summaries of 206 international, European and national research programmes in the field of transport, was launched in June. This site also contains a list of national government departments and state agencies involved in transport research, as well as a list of programmes sponsored by these bodies. TRKC web portal
New European Commissioner for Transport
José Manuel Barroso, the new president of the European Commission, announced on 12th August the composition of his team. Mr Jacques Barrot (France), who has been European Commissioner for regional policy since April 2004, will be in charge of transport issues, replacing Ms Loyola de Palacio who held the transport portfolio in the previous Commission.
EU and US sign an agreement on interoperability between GALILEO and GPS
After more than 4 years of intensive talks, the European Union and the United States concluded an agreement on GALILEO and GPS on 26 June. The agreement confirms GALILEO and GPS will be fully compatible and interoperable, making GALILEO the de facto world standard of open signals in the GNSS mass market. All users of
New environmental impact assessment rules for major public projects
The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive, adopted by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers in 2001, entered into force on 21st July 2004. This Directive asks for public authorities at national and local levels to carry out an environmental assessment of plans and programmes, including transport projects, which are likely to have a significant
The European Railway Agency starts its work
The European Railway Agency (ERA), set up by Regulation 881/2004, held its first meeting on 15th July. The Agency brings together representatives of the 25 Member States, the European Commission, and the actors involved (railway companies, infrastructure managers, railway industry, staff representatives, passenger organisations and railway freight customers). ERA will be responsible for achieving greater
New Transport Committee in the European Parliament
Following the elections for the European Parliament which took place last June, 20 Parliamentary Committees in which the Euro MPs prepare the work of the plenary assembly have been set up in July. The former Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism has been split. The new Committee on Transport and Tourism (abreviation: TRAN), which
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