European transport ministers gathered in Warsaw on Tuesday to discuss matters of defense. A big topic of discussion was the rapid deployment of troops within and outside the EU in case of a large-scale military conflict. There reportedly was a sense of urgency to improve European infrastructure capacity. Reflecting upon the ministerial meeting, rail consultant Xavier Wanderpepen shares his views on the matter with RailFreight.com.
A military Schengen is still far away, a stakeholder said at the meeting in Warsaw, according to French media. Moving troops is complex in Europe. National rules to protect roads, axle weight rules or regulations on the transport of dangerous goods. Those are some of the obstacles to efficient military transport across the continent.
That is not to say that Europe is not doing anything at all to improve military transportation. In 2022, it approved a budget of 1,7 billion euros for dual-use infrastructure. However, that amount is only a small fraction of the initially proposed 6,5 billion euros. The (one might say notorious) frugal member states did not want to take on too much debt in the context of the covid pandemic.
Now, Europe needs more money. The EU’s Directorate-General Move (DG MOVE) has identified 500 infrastructure objects to upgrade. While that is a step forward, the European Court of Auditors laments the lack of central coordination and clarity on infrastructure issues. It criticised the Commission’s failure to come up with a solid estimate of the needed funding as well as the fragmented governance of EU military mobility more generally.
The rail obstacle
In addition to infrastructure issues, rail consultant Xavier Wanderpepen tells RailFreight.com that the main problem is the processing time for paths for special (military) trains in Europe. The timeframe for approval can be up to 45 days.
“This is undoubtedly a rule that dates back over 30 years, from the infrastructure networks”, Wanderpepen explains. “While it may have made sense in the past, today, with modern communication tools, it is incomprehensible. And don’t bother some infrastructure networks after Friday noon; they’re already on their weekend!”
“It’s a matter of political will”
For air transport, there are coordination systems for air traffic paths, Wanderpepen says, such as EUROCONTROL (European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) or SES (Single European Sky). The consultant argues that Europe should have imposed this type of coordination for rail a long time ago.
France imposed a rule on infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau many years ago, requiring them to process military path requests within 48 hours; this rule is called TFUD (Transport Ferroviaire Urgent pour les besoins de Défense). “What is possible in France should be possible for all European Union countries. It’s a matter of political will”, Wanderpepen concludes.
