The Basque Minister for Sustainable Mobility, Susana García Chueca, will hold talks on Tuesday, 29 September, in the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and in Monaco on cross-border passenger mobility by rail. The visit is taking place as part of the EU project Crosusmob instead, which is run by the public infrastructure company Euskal Trenbide Sarea and funded through Interreg Europe and the European Regional Development Fund.
The focus is on two rail corridors from Cannes, Nice and Breil-sur-Roya to Ventimiglia in the Italian region of Liguria. The delegation from the Basque Country wants to identify, with local and national authorities, obstacles that hold back cross-border rail traffic, and discuss practical solutions for operations, timetables and fares. Talks with the authorities responsible for mobility and infrastructure in Monaco are also planned. A visit to Nice’s tram network is also on the agenda.
García Chueca says the trip is intended to find experiences that can be applied in the Basque Country: other administrations face similar challenges, and their solutions could be transferred to Euskadi. She advocates strengthening rail as a sustainable alternative to the car.
The background is Crosusmob’s aim to develop regional and national policies so that the Single European Railway Area can be put into practice. This includes removing technical, organisational and regulatory barriers at borders, improving interoperability, coordinating timetables and creating integrated fare systems. According to the project information, only around seven per cent of European passenger rail traffic currently crosses national borders. This makes it harder to establish public transport as a simple and affordable alternative to the private car.
The Basque Government has not announced any specific agreements for the corridors mentioned. The forthcoming meetings are intended as an expert exchange and an assessment of the current situation. Whether they will lead to short-term changes in services or fares remains open and would require further decisions by the administrations and operators involved. The stated aims, assessments and intentions are attributed to the Government of Euskadi and the minister; no firm decisions had been made at the time of the announcement.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).