SOME RECENT CAMPAIGN UPDATES

EUROPEAN PASSENGER FEDERATION(EPF) 20th ANNIVERSARY EVENT

 On January 13th the European Passengers’ Federation (of which ERC(UK) is an associate member) marked its 20th birthday with a special event at the European Parliament in Brussels.

ERC(UK) and the German association PROBAHN helped sponsor the event, and two of our members attended along with 35 other colleagues from Continental public transport users’ associations, lobbyists and decision-makers. 

The event was hosted by Irish MEP Ciaran Cuffe and speakers included representatives of the Community of European Railways, ALLRAIL plus train campaigner and blogger Jon Worth.  

Topics covered in the presentations and discussion embraced cross-border services and passenger rights.  

For a full report see: http://www.epf.eu/wp/epf-celebrates-turning-20/

TO EUROPE BY RAIL/SEA/RAIL

One of the few convenient links to Europe by sea is the twice daily Stena Line service from Harwich to Hook van Hollande. While in the UK the ship connects directly into the UK rail network at Harwich, passengers arriving at Hook van Hollande have to buy a separate Metro Card for the Rotterdam area Metro service before connecting into the Dutch rail network.

In conjunction with our Dutch colleagues, we asked if they could sell the cards on board the ship to save passengers having to queue for the ticket machine on the platform. Stena Line are not yet willing to sell metro cards on board the vessel but have now set up a link (in English) explaining how these can be bought on the ferry using an app. They have also agreed to include this information in e-mails sent in advance to customers making a booking. For further information please see: –

https://www.ret.nl/home/reizen/stenaline.html

BIKES ON EUROSTAR

The cyclists’ organisation Cycling UK has been pressing Eurostar to allow cyclists again to carry their bikes on its trains.  For now, they have re-introduced this only for the London – Paris service, subject to space being available for large items of luggage.  Intending passengers must first book their Eurostar ticket and then contact the operator to book a space for their bike.

We obviously hope that these arrangements will be extended for the Brussels and Amsterdam services in due course.