Examination of Witnesses (Questions 653-659)
MR GRAHAM
SMITH
16 JUNE 2004
Q653 Chairman: Good afternoon, Mr Smith.
We are delighted to see you.
Mr Smith: Thank you.
Q654 Chairman: Would you like to tell
us officially who you are?
Mr Smith: My name is Graham Smith,
I am Planning Director for English Welsh and Scottish Railway.
Q655 Chairman: Do you have something
you want to tell us before we ask you questions?
Mr Smith: EWS (English Welsh and
Scottish Railway—but it is easier to say EWS) is an international
operator operating freight services in partnership with SNCF through
the Channel Tunnel as well as being a domestic freight haulier.
So we approach the European dimension from two perspectives: both
from our domestic interests and, also, from how we should develop
our international services. The evidence we have put before you
seeks to reflect both of those issues, and hopefully I can answer
any questions you have.
Q656 Chairman: Do you agree that the
European Commission is pro-rail, anti-road and anti-aviation?
Mr Smith: I do not know whether
it is anti-road or anti-aviation but I believe it is certainly
pro-rail and it is particularly pro-rail freight; the European
White Paper argues strongly for an increase in the market share
of rail in the movement of goods. It is only in the United Kingdom
where there has been an increase in rail freight's market share
in the last few years, whereas on mainland Europe the share has
been diminishing.
Q657 Chairman: Would you say that is
one of the successes that could be laid at the door of development
of European rail legislation?
Mr Smith: It will only be a success
if that reduction in market share in mainland Europe stabilises
and then increases.
Q658 Chairman: What indication do you
see of that happening?
Mr Smith: I think there is a more
vibrant European rail freight business. The introduction of open
access freight operators in mainland Europe now numbering 300,
of which 60 are in Germany, is perhaps indicative that the end
customer—and that is who we are trying to serve—now
sees rail as a viable alternative to road transport and, in the
case of mainland Europe, canal transport more than they did, say,
ten years ago.
Q659 Chairman: What, in fact, do you
think the development of interoperability would have upon the
United Kingdom's railway?
Mr Smith: We support interoperability
because by having interoperable equipment we can access parts
of Europe that we have not been able to access before through
freight services. Solely in domestic activity in the United Kingdom
there is a risk with interoperable standards as anywhere else
that it will impose standards and regimes which are unnecessary.
However, I think we should bear in mind that in some cases the
United Kingdom standards are higher, perhaps too high, than is
found in mainland Europe, and it could be that interoperable standards
produce a more realistic level of standards than we sometimes
see in the United Kingdom.
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