Progress made on re-integrating railways in South East Europe

TIRANA, Dec. 5 – Ministers and representatives from Ministries of Transport in South East European Countries, including Albania, Croatia Montenegro, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, gathered in the Albanian capital to build support for better, more efficient transport by rail in the region.
Participants at the South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) Inter-Ministerial Meeting together with Deputy Director General, Z. Kasatsay, from the EU’s Directorate General for Energy and Transport, signed a Resolution and an Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Development of the South East Europe Core Regional Transport Network (MoU). The original Memorandum had been signed by representatives from the Ministries of Transport from those countries in June 2004.
The signing of the Resolution and the Addendum represent a major step forward in the consolidation of the railway transportation system in the South East Europe. It commits the signatories to the establishment of a Railway Transport Community in the region, as well as the construction of a regional railway transport market. The signing will also facilitate the integration of South East European railways into the railway transportation market of the countries of the European Union.
Transition, conflict, and the closure of old, uneconomic heavy industries reduced railway traffic significantly in South East Europe, according to a comprehensive overview of the state of railway reform in the Western Balkans published by the World Bank in December 2005. Western Balkan railways were built and staffed for much higher traffic volume, and the report notes that they have yet to fully adjust resources despite reduced productivity.
In addition, the breakup of the former Yugoslavian Railways (JZ) has fragmented rail service, reducing competitiveness. Infrastructure utilization, rolling stock utilization, and staff productivity are low, especially for smaller railways and particularly compared to European benchmark railways. Finally, railway assets (infrastructure and rolling stock), were damaged in the conflict and little has been invested in the last 15 years, with the predictable result that all Western Balkan railways need to renovate their assets.
The Resolution and Addendum require signing countries to undertake the following actions:
Establish legal and institutional framework according to EU Railway Directives
Restructure railway companies along main business lines;
Rationalize and modernize railway infrastructure and rolling stock to meet real needs of the transport market.
The signing was witnessed by representatives from EU Member States, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank.
Set up under a Memorandum of Understanding in 2004, SEETO is a joint venture between the European Commission and all the National Transport Ministries to establish shared development protocols and strategies to achieve agreed improvements to transport infrastructure throughout the region.