Commission proposes to extend PACT programme for combined transport
In 1992 the European Commission launched the PACT (pilot actions for combined transport) programme to promote innovative actions to improve the combined transport systems and opportunities available in the EU. The Commission has now approved a major initiative to extend the programme from 1997 to 2001. The initiative also creates the legal mechanisms necessary to ensure that PACT has a steady budget for that period of ECU 35 million. Some ECU 18.3 million has been spent on PACT since the scheme has been operational. The Commission believes that the development of combined transport, the movement of goods between two points on at least two different forms of transport without unloading, promotes safe, reliable and competitive alternatives to road transport. Combined transport is part of an integrated transport policy that in the future will include revitalization of the rail sector, R&D spending targeted towards the development of the train of the future and better intermodal links, as well as more transparent, fairer and efficient pricing systems and special initiatives designed to tackle the problems of congestion and environmental pollution that are especially acute in the Alpine areas of the Union. Under the new PACT initiative, the Commission may fund feasibility studies on a specific pilot route and innovative operational measures. In the four years of its operation, PACT has already funded 65 projects on 22 routes. Of these, 11 are road/rail, five involve inland waterways and six include a sea crossing. Seventeen are related solely to the territory of the Union, while the rest include a section outside (either in Switzerland or in the Central and Eastern Europe).