Transport of dangerous goods by railway

The ESC welcomed the proposal to adapt national provisions to the international provisions in force for cross-frontier traffic, which under the RID rules already applied to 34 states that were parties to the Convention. The proposal for a directive under review was largely in keeping with the Directive on the transport of dangerous goods by road and, to correspond to this Directive [(1) Doc. COM(93)665 final - SYN 487 - OJ C 238 of 26 August 1994, page 4], the ESC expected in the near future to see a proposal for a directive from the Commission on the monitoring of the transport of dangerous goods by rail. It also urged the Commission to produce as soon as possible a draft Directive on the transport of dangerous goods by inland waterway, which was still lacking, and which would greatly facilitate intermodal transport. Finally, since the restructuring referred to by the Commission (Directive 91/440/EEC) would also give rise to differing responsibilities for the enterprises responsible for operation and those responsible for the track, the ESC considered that these different responsibilities should be addressed and defined in the Directive.