Priority Project 1: Railway Axis Berlin-Verona/Milano-Bologna-Napoli-Messina-Palermo
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Annual Report of the Coordinator Pat Cox Brussels October 2013 Transport TEN-T Trans-European Transport Networks Annual Activity Report 2012-2013 for PriorityProject 1 Railway axis Berlin-Verona/Milano-Bologna-Napoli Messina-Palermo Brussels October 2013 Pat Cox European Coordinator This report only represents the opinion of the European Coordinator and does not prejudice the official position of the European Commission. 2 Priority Project 1: Railway axis Berlin-Verona/Milano-Bologna-Napoli-Messina-Palermo TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary 3 1. Introduction 4 2. State of the project 5 2.1. The Brenner Corridor (Munich - Verona) 5 2.1.1. Brenner Base Tunnel 5 2.1.2. Northern access route 11 2.1.3. Southern access route 12 2.2. Other sections 13 2.2.1. Germany 13 2.2.2. Italy 13 2.3. European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) 14 2.4. Project financing 14 2.4.1. National commitments 14 2.4.2. Cross-financing mechanisms 15 2.4.3. EU commitments 16 2.5. Cooperation frameworks 17 2.5.1. Austria-Italy Intergovernmental Commission (CIG) 17 2.5.2. Brenner Corridor Platform 17 2.5.3. Aktionsgemeinschaft-Brennerbahn - Comunita d'azione ferrovia del Brennero 18 2.5.4. Alpine Convention 19 2.6. Activities of the Coordinator 19 3. Coordinator's mandate 2010-2013 21 4. Outlook 24 Annex 26 European Commission 3 Priority Project 1: Railway axis Berlin-Verona/Milano-Bologna-Napoli-Messina-Palermo SUMMARY With a TEN-T budget allocation of almost €1 billion in the financial perspective 2007-2013, Priority Project 1 Berlin-Palermo is one of the most significant infrastructure projects of the Trans-European Transport Network. PP1 will connect the main economic centres of activity in Northern Europe with those in Southern Europe. The centrepiece of this project 1 is the Brenner Corridor. This section, located between Munich and Verona, crosses the ecologically sensitive Alpine regions which are under constant pressure from the volume of road traffic. Since June 2010, when Pat Cox undertook his role of Coordinator for this project, important progress has been made: • A crucial step for the realisation of the Brenner Base Tunnel was made by the agreement of 18 April 2011 on the total cost for the project of €7460 million (2010 prices). Following this agreement the main construction works on the base tunnel could start. • By June 2013, 27 km of tunnels including 1.4 km of the main tubes, had been excavated, representing more than 10 % of the whole tunnel system. • Despite severe austerity programmes, Austria and Italy committed significant additional funding for the Brenner Base Tunnel to ensure the continuation of this major infrastructure project. • The Lower Inn Valley line, which is part of the northern access route in Austria, went into operation on 9 December 2012. • On the southern access route the planning phase of the mission critical lot Fortezza- Ponte Gardena is about to be completed. • On 15 June 2012, Austria and Germany signed an inter-ministerial agreement for the upgrading of the section between Munich and Kiefersfelden. This agreement allowed the start of the planning process of the important cross-border section. Despite the important progress which has been made on this high capacity rail axis, there are still important issues that need to be tackled. In particular on the northern access route (Munich-Kiefersfelden) and on the southern access route concrete decisions and financial commitments to the planning and the construction still have to be made to secure the necessary progress and EU co-funding. The Coordinator will continue to emphasise the need to make the most of the EU funds, which are available under the current funding decisions and will become available in the future under the new TEN-T policy. Furthermore, the Coordinator will continue to stress the importance of flanking measures, supporting the construction and operation of the infrastructure, and a clear communication strategy, securing the engagement of all stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in this project. As of 2014, PP1 will become an integral part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor. The more complex temporal, geographical and multi-modal scope of this new corridor will require a different coordination strategy. The major challenges will be to bring together all stakeholders, lead them to concrete results and secure adequate EU co-funding to accommodate progress. European Commission 4 Priority Project 1: Railway axis Berlin-Verona/Milano-Bologna-Napoli-Messina-Palermo 1. INTRODUCTION The 2200 km long high capacity north-south rail axis between Berlin and Palermo is one of the most significant projects of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The centrepiece of this Priority Project 1 is the cross-border rail section between Munich and Verona, the so- called Brenner Corridor, including the Brenner Base Tunnel, the northern access route and the southern access route. The Berlin-Palermo rail axis will make an important contribution to a sustainable European transport policy. By constructing a high capacity rail axis the scope of both freight and passenger transport between northern and southern Europe will significantly increase. Also it will deliver an important contribution to reaching the EU's policy goal of achieving modal shift from road to rail. Furthermore, Priority Project 1 will help address some of the key environmental challenges that communities along the line are facing, especially in the ecologically sensitive Alpine regions encompassed by the Brenner Corridor, where the quality of life and environment is under constant pressure from the volume of road traffic. Financially, the strategic significance of Priority Project 1 to the EU's transport infrastructure policy is confirmed by the allocation of almost €1 billion of the TEN-T budget in the financial perspective 2007-2013. Priority Project 1 offers a double added value, especially in this period of economic crisis and budgetary rigour: firstly, it offers a capacity to stimulate and leverage further investment, creates employment and supports the infrastructural industry in the countries and regions along the corridor; secondly, it contributes to the long-term mobility and sustainability objectives of Member States, regions and of the European Union. When undertaking the role of European Coordinator for Priority Project 1 in June 2010, Coordinator Cox declared that he wanted to ensure progress by establishing, first of all, concrete financial capacity in particular for the Brenner Corridor. In this regard, good progress has been made on the Brenner Base Tunnel and the southern access route. During this reporting period Austria and Italy committed significant additional funding for the coming years, despite the fact that both states are undergoing austerity programmes. Moreover, on the Austrian side of the northern access route the new Lower Inn Valley rail between Kundl and Baumkirchen became operational on 9 December 2012. On the German side the preliminary planning process has started. However, no concrete financial commitments have yet been made for the final planning and construction of this part of the line. The next reporting period will be dedicated to the transition from Priority Project 1 Berlin- Palermo to the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Core Network Corridor and to preparing and optimising EU funding for the period 2014-2020 under the multiannual financial framework. In addition to the financing imperative for the various projects, the Coordinator will continue to focus on the progressive identification and development of a comprehensive framework of accompanying policy measures aimed at improving efficiency and sustainable mobility. An important step in this direction was made on 10 June 2013, when the European Union ratified the Transport Protocol of the Alpine Convention. Apart from describing project developments during the reporting period 2012-2013, this report also provides a summary of the Coordinator's first mandate, which started in June 2010 and ended on 22 July 2013. European Commission 5 Priority Project 1: Railway axis Berlin-Verona/Milano-Bologna-Napoli-Messina-Palermo 2. STATE OF THE PROJECT 2.1. The Brenner Corridor (Munich – Verona) The success of Priority Project 1 clearly depends on the realisation of its centrepiece, the Brenner Corridor, which includes the cross-border Brenner Base Tunnel between Innsbruck and Fortezza, the cross-border access route between Munich and Innsbruck, and the southern access route between Fortezza and Verona. The Brenner Corridor is of fundamental importance in terms of transport, economics and ecology. It is needed in order to transfer a significant part of freight traffic from road to rail. The resulting reduction in air and noise pollution will greatly improve the ecological situation and quality of life in the area. Once the new railway line is operational, journey times crossing this part of the Alps will be shorter, freight capacity will be enhanced and thus a bottleneck which is crucial for the entire project will be eliminated. The Brenner Corridor will interconnect the national railway networks that nowadays operate with different systems. The command and control system installed will be ERTMS-II (European Rail Traffic Management System, Level II), compatible at a European level. Realising the Brenner Corridor goes beyond Priority Project 1. Together with the Gotthard- Monte Ceneri axis in Switzerland and the Lyon-Turin rail connection, the Brenner Corridor will link high-capacity rail networks between northern and southern Europe, thus delivering a major contribution to the establishment of the trans-European transport network and to achieving the environmental objectives which are so important for the ecologically sensitive Alpine region. It is clear that the new base tunnel can only add value to the trans-European transport network if access routes north and south of the tunnel can process the same traffic flows. The Coordinator therefore considers the timely completion of the access routes, in parallel with the base tunnel, as one of his main priorities.