Priority TEN -T Projects
The European Union needs a powerful economy. One of the most important "instruments" in the achievement of this desideratum is the transport network.
The set up of a unique European transport network is a quite hardy step. Complex and in the same time complicated, it is based on a series of detailed analyses, extremely important aiming at localizing the industrial centers, the shortest and the most advantageous routes, the most solid and modern existing infrastructures etc.
The idea of achieving a network to cover the entire continent - called the trans-European network, as there is officially called Trans-European Networks (TEN) - has been born since the '80s, once with the proposal to set up a unique market.
After entering in force the Treaty from Maastricht, in 1993, the European Commission has elaborated a vast development program of the trans-continental transport networks, achievement of a historical importance, known being the fact that since the Roman Empire there was no project of such a span.
For the materialization of this desideratum, in 1996, the European Community has adopted a program (having the deadline on 2010), estimated at that time at 400 billion Euro, which was delineating the main priorities: the building of the railway routes crossing the Alps, the extension of the high-speed network with Colone - Frankfurt (recently inaugurate) railway section, the building of Oresund bridge (put into operation in 2000), other projects, already finalized presently or in various stages of execution. Still, at more than six years since the launching of this program only 205 of the objectives that have been stipulated have been accomplished.
The provisions on the economical evolution on European plan shows that up to 2010 the freight transport will know a continuous increase; as well as the passengers' transport.
Once with the launching, on September 2001, of the White Chart of Transports - the document defining the new principles according to which the European policy is orienting in this field -, there has been delineated the idea that the delays occurred in the achievement of the pan-European railway infrastructure impose a supplementary effort, in order to counteract the quite aggressive development noticed in the road freight transports. The legislative regulation of the competition on the liberalized market of transports, a better policy of the investments and the promotion of the intermodal transport are the main imperative of the current moment in the European transport.
Consequently, on October 2001, there has been produced a revision of the orientations regarding the trans- European railway transport network. This proposal, which adoption has been required by the Council of Europe, reiterates the existing priorities and the initial set of projects, present the progresses that have been recorded and establish the new priority objectives, and the key-plan for new six projects.
In the conditions in which the extension process of the European Union continues - recently, in Athens has been announced the 15 have become the 25 -, the existence at European levels of certain compatible transport systems is a compulsory desideratum. Over 20,000 km of roads and 30,000 km of railways, together with the harbors and airports belonging to the candidate countries or the recent member of EU should be built or improved, the approximate cost for these works being of 100,000 million Euro. Part of the projects is already in working process, being assisted through ISPA and PHARE programs.
The EU extension brought to attention the fact that this will implicitly lead to the traffic increase on the territory of the member states, who should regulate the problems of their own infrastructures. Consequently, there have been selected a series of projects, called main priority projects, some of them already being in development stage, which are presented by the European Commission in a vast work in order to offer to those interested the possibility to understand the advantages of building a trans-European transport network.
According to the EC Decision no. 1629/96, amended through the Decision 1346/2001, at the level of year 2010 the dimensions of this network being the following:
� 75,200 km of roads;
� 78,00 kilometers of railways;
� 330 airports;
� 270 maritime harbors;
� 210 inside harbors.
Compared to the figures of the years 1998, up to 2010 there is also expected an increase by 38% at the freight traffic and by 24% at passengers traffic.
Here we have, shortly, the 14 priority projects adopted in 1996:
� the achievement of a high-speed train network/north-south combined transport;
� putting into operation of the high-speed train PBKAL (Paris - Brussels - Cologne - Amsterdam - London);
� the achievement of a network meant for the high-speed trains in the south of the continent and of another one in the east of the continent;
� the opening of Betuwe line, of conventional / combined transport line, crossing Netherlands;
� the achievement of a railway network of high-speed/combined transport in France and Italy;
� the building of a highway network between Pathe and Via Eganatia (Greece);
� the building of a multimodal link Portugal - Spain - Central Europe;
� the achievement of a railway line Cork - Dublin - Belfast - Larne - Stranraer (finalized);
� the building of the Malpensa airport, from Milan (Finalized);
� the provision of a link on the road and on the railway between Denmark and Sweden through Oresund bridge (finalized);
� the achievement of the Northern Triangle - road/railways;
� the provision of the road link between Ireland - great Britain - Benelux;
� the achievement of the railway on the western coast of the continent.
To these there is also added the six new projects proposed by the European Commission in the fall of year 2001 (satellite global navigation system Galileo; the great capacity railway section over the Pirineis; the east-European combine/high-speed transport network; the improvement of the navigationconditions on the Danube channel between Vilshofen and Straubing; the provision of the interoperability of the high-speed network in Iberian Peninsula; the achievement of the Fehmarn Belt, between Germany and Denmark) and two proposals for the extension of the high-speed lines (the one situated on the north -south direction, that will be of combined transport, on Verona - Napoli and Bologna - Milan routes, and the one from the south of the continent between Montpellier - Nimes).
We propose that in the future issues of our magazine to deepen each of these objectives, presenting interesting features and modern approach solutions.
Knowing them can be very useful, for the specialists looking for information, as well as the possible members of the European Union who are assigned to know� the geography of the transports.Silvia Mirea
