Ministers call for improved tunnel safety
Alpine transport ministers have called for concrete measures to improve tunnel safety.
The talks come in the wake of a series of fatal accidents, including one in the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland that claimed the lives of 11 people.
The meeting in Regensberg near Zurich was called by the Swiss transport minister, Moritz Leuenberger, and involved his counterparts from Germany, Italy France and Austria – Manfred Stolpe, Pietro Lunardi, Gilles de Robien and Helmut Kukacka. An observer from the European Commission was also present.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministers reiterated their commitment to increasing security for transalpine traffic, particularly in tunnels.
The ministers first met in 2001 shortly after the fatal Gotthard fire.
At that meeting they signed a declaration pledging to improve security. A working group, formed in 2002 and headed by Switzerland, was given the task of proposing new safety measures.
The Gotthard fire in October 2001 came after 39 people died when a fire broke out inside the Mont Blanc tunnel in 1999. Twelve people died inside the Tauern tunnel in Austria a year later.
Progress
Leuenberger said that the working group’s first report since the Gotthard fire had shown that progress was being made on tunnel safety.
He also pointed out that Alpine countries had contributed to the creation of a new European directive defining minimum safety requirements for road tunnels.
“For Switzerland, it’s a pleasure to be able to influence European Union legislation in this way,” said Leuenberger at a press conference following the talks.
Leuenberger said the next task was to come up with concrete measures for road safety within the next two years.
Another point of discussion was how to improve security in rail and road tunnels where traffic flows in both directions.
Ministers also agreed that it was important to encourage the movement of transalpine freight off the roads and onto the railway.
Criticism
The Italian transport minister, Pietro Lunardi, criticised the staggered entry system for trucks using the Gotthard tunnel. This was introduced as part of a safety overhaul following the fire, which was caused by a head-on collision of two trucks.
The “drip-feed” system uses a separate lane and traffic lights for heavy goods vehicles and sends trucks into the tunnel at staggered intervals.
The system was introduced to avoid long tailbacks and allay security concerns, but has been unpopular with truck drivers.
Lunardi said safety measures should not hamper the free circulation of traffic through the tunnel.
France will hold the next ministerial meeting on traffic safety, which is due to take place in 2006.
swissinfo with agencies
A working group, headed by Switzerland, has the mandate to come up with proposals for common measures to regulate the flow of traffic through the Alps.
Another group led by Austria is charged with looking into tunnel security.
A third group, which is is headed by the Italians, is in charge of setting up a traffic database.
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