Parliamentary question - P-4949/2010Parliamentary question
P-4949/2010
European Parliament

Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata railway line

24.6.2010

Answer in writing

Question for written answer P-4949/2010
to the Commission
Rule 117
Michail Tremopoulos (Verts/ALE)

The Corinth-Tripoli-Kalamata metric gauge railway line was rebuilt between 2004 and 2007 with co-funding from the Third Community support framework to a standard to support speeds of 120-140 kph. Since August 2009 only the section from Corinth to Tripoli has been operational, while the rest of the line is still not being operated commercially. There is limited passenger traffic on the line, and it is planned to close it by the end of June as part of the implementation of the Memorandum[1] which the Greek Government signed with the Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Association of Friends of the Arcadia Railway[2] complains that despite the line's upgraded standards, trains travel at slower speeds than they did before the rebuilding, and services have been cut to a minimum and run at times which do not suit normal passengers. During the years while the line was being rebuilt, the Greek national railway company suspended the replacement bus service, despite a court ruling that it was justified, after an application for interim measures brought by the Arcadia association of bus operators and the Greek federation of intercity transport drivers[3].

1. Are the possibilities of this railway line currently being exploited in a way that is compatible with the commitments made by Greece for co-funding its reconstruction?

2. Are the earlier delay in putting the line back into service and its impending closure compatible with European rules on co-funded projects?

3. Is the imposition of conditions for the closure of railway lines within two months without a prior assessment of their economic viability compatible with European transport policy?

OJ C 191 E, 01/07/2011

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