Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001686/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Kostas Papadakis (NI), Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos (NI)
The EU’s goal of faster and higher-capacity rail freight transport with the 2024 amendment of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 combined with a tragic lack of safety systems constitute an explosive mixture.
The transport of ‘undeclared’ cargo and flammable/dangerous materials for which ‘no one is responsible’ and which are not controlled is now an everyday occurrence, according to successive press reports.
This unacceptable situation is becoming increasingly dangerous on the EU railways, with a 23 % increase in major rail accidents across the EU recorded between 2021 and 2023, with 1,567 people losing their lives in 2023 alone on the EU rail network (with modern safety systems covering only 14% of the total rail network).
In view of this:
- 1.What is the Commission’s position on the fact that, on the basis of the war plans of the EU and its adversaries, rail infrastructure is being used to transport dangerous NATO materials, putting the lives of passengers, workers and residents at constant risk, all the more so when safety standards are proven not to be met?
- 2.What is the Commission’s position on the fact that the increased burden on the railway with increasingly dangerous loads and without the necessary modern safety systems and controls, on the basis of EU guidelines for fast and increased-capacity transport of goods that satisfy the criterion of greater profit for business groups, multiplies the risks for ordinary people?
Submitted: 28.4.2025