[Index]
UNECE Trans-European Railway (TER) Project
works for
Central and Eastern European countries’ railway transport
border-crossing facilitation
Geneva, 23 January 2002
A UNECE-TER Project Seminar on the Facilitation of Border
Crossings in International Rail Transport took place in Karlovy Vary (Czech
Republic) from 10 to 12 December 2001. The Seminar was attended by
representatives from the Ministries of Finance (Customs Division), together
with those from the Ministries of Transport and the Railway companies from 11
TER countries. Representatives of International Union of Railways (UIC) and
Gibb Ltd. (Jacobs Consultancy) also participated.
The need for action, aiming at increasing European railway
efficiency and competitiveness, was among the points that the participants
agreed upon unanimously. They also stressed the need for harmonization of
border control procedures in the TER member countries according to the EU
standards, especially since many of the TER countries are in the process of
joining the EU.
The essential activity of monitoring and following up the
progress of international rail transport border-crossing facilitation in the
TER region was discussed at great length. In this respect, TER member
countries’ representatives agreed to transmit periodically to the TER
Project Central Office in Budapest the latest available data of all railway
border crossings on the TER Network on the following aspects:
average time spent by passenger and goods trains at
border crossings;
progress made (in minutes) as a result of implementing
the measures taken by Governments (e.g. customs, police, sanitary
controls) and railways (e.g. new technologies implemented in border
stations) for passenger and freight trains to reduce the delays or time
spent during border crossing;
short information on bilateral new agreements concluded
or contacts which have taken place between Governments and/or railways of
neighbouring countries in order to improve the crossing of borders via
international rail traffic;
other measures envisaged to eliminate in the future the
delays during the crossing of borders.
The positive impact and benefits from the cooperation on
border-crossing issues in the framework of bilateral groups established by two
neighbouring countries were underlined. Such cooperation frameworks assist the
development of better relations, understanding and trust among the
representatives of various institutions involved in the border crossing
procedures and can be very effective in promoting the introduction and
implementation of specific measures and projects. The participants agreed that
sharing experiences between countries, exchanging information on new
agreements and implementation of existing agreements between countries, would
definitely assist the common objective of the border crossing facilitation.
The need for closer cooperation between different
international railway bodies as a means of assisting the efficiency of the
railways and avoiding useless duplication was underlined.
The TER Project is a sub-regional cooperation established
in 1990 under the aegis of the UNECE (Geneva) by the Governments of Central,
Eastern and South Eastern European countries. The TER Project is working for
the development of railway and combined transport infrastructure in the region
and is committed to assisting European integration and economic development
through the facilitation of railway traffic in Europe.
The activities of the Project are supported by the
contribution of 16 countries which have so far acceded to TER: Austria, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia,
Slovenia and Turkey.
For additional information please contact:
Mr. Jose Capel Ferrer, Director, or
Mr. Michalis P. Adamantiadis, Regional Adviser
UNECE Transport Division
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10
Tel: +41(0)22 917 24 01, 917 11 28
Fax: +41(0)22 917 00 39
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Mr. Mircea Lupescu, Project Manager
UNECE TER Project Central Office
Budapest, Hungary
Tel: +361 353-2772, 2774
Fax: +361 269-4195
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.unece.org/trans (Under TER heading)
Ref: ECE/TRANS/02/01