The EU's costly obsession with harmonising European trains is bad news for Britain's railways. Britain has consistently been ahead of the game where EU railway legislation is concerned. We broke up a monolithic network, ran private trains and encouraged competition long before the EU told us to. But even with the current convergence between Britain and Brussels on many railway matters, European legislation has caused far more problems for our railway network than would be expected, due to Brussels' obsession with breaking down national barriers. Having eliminated border crossings in the Schengen Area, the EU is determined to create a harmonised pan-European rail network similarly free from national boundaries.
Britain has consistently been ahead of the game where EU railway legislation is concerned. We broke up a monolithic network, ran private trains and encouraged competition long before the EU told us to.
But even with the current convergence between Britain and Brussels on many railway matters, European legislation has caused far more problems for our railway network than would be expected, due to Brussels' obsession with breaking down national barriers. Having eliminated border crossings in the Schengen Area, the EU is determined to create a harmonised pan-European rail network similarly free from national boundaries.
A fading whimper from an attitude whose time has gone. Oh yes, their siren songs are still heard in certain quarters where Bear Stearns and Lehmans never crashed and I'm sure they can still inflict minor damages. indeed they might even yet destroy the UK & American economies, but in the grand scheme of things, everything they do merely hastens their passing. keep to the Fen Causeway
The longer Britain remains in the EU, the longer we will be locked into its thinking on railways. Even as things stand, with so few international trains ever likely to run in Britain compared with other member states, the benefits of regaining control of our railways are obvious. Surely the nation that gave railways to the world deserves the freedom to determine the direction that its own network should take. John Petley has researched the impact the EU is having on Britain's railways for the Bruges Group; www.brugesgroup.com
John Petley has researched the impact the EU is having on Britain's railways for the Bruges Group; www.brugesgroup.com
As discussed in another thread, the Bruges Group is a violently anti-EU group (named after one of Thatcher's most (in)famous speeches) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
