High-speed and international rail travel is the “flagship mode of transport” in European Commission policy making with regards to the environment, delegates at GBTA Europe’s inaugural Sustainability Summit heard today, but fragmentation continues to cause frustration.
Walter Goetz, head of cabinet for the transport commissioner at the European Commission, said rail is “the cleanest and most efficient” method of transport and that financing programmes are available for new railway lines and better interconnectivity, “but there are still some big issues to overcome”.
He cited complexities around ticketing and booking rail travel both domestically within EU member states and even more so internationally.
Mark Cuschieri, global head of travel at UBS and vice president of GBTA, said: “As buyers we want to make the most of rail but when you look at the interoperability of [international] rail, it’s frustrating. High-speed rail traffic across Europe could double given the opportunity.”
On the subject of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), Goetz said its high cost “can only be tolerated at the beginning of this transformation. If it remains as high as it is today we could up in a situation in which people can’t afford to travel as they do currently”.
While some organisations argue for government incentives to invest in SAF production, Goetz said member states “have that possibility but there are strict EU rules about not distorting competition”.
Meanwhile, he was optimistic about the future of electric vehicles and said there had been an “explosion in demand” particularly in Benelux, France and Germany but cautioned that penetration is lacking in some countries and that is often due to charging infrastructure. “If that’s not there then uptake will not come,” he said, adding that current electricity costs and supply strain are becoming an additional barrier to adoption.
He added: “We hope through our policies that there will be a general market uptake of cleaner modes of transport and fuels so that in the end economies of scale will make decarbonisation affordable for citizens and travellers.”