Bikes on trains and DRL

I used the CTC form letter to email my MEPs and got this response:

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding cycles on trains and daytime running of
headlights: *I reply to you on behalf of all three Conservative MEPs for the
West Midlands region as I handle constituent queries from your area.

The issue you raise on cycles is indeed part of the Third Rail package.
Whilst we are generally in favour of such a measure being applicable overall
to international journeys, the issue of legislation regarding domestic rail
services should, in our view, be a matter for the national Governments of
individual Member States.

With regard to the daytime use of headlights, I very much note your concern
regarding the possible effect on the safety of cyclists. We have yet to see
the detail of the Commission proposals, but I can assure you that we will
bear the comments of yourself and others very much in mind when we discuss
the final text.

Yours sincerely
Malcolm Harbour MEP"

Not much comfort there!

--
Regards
Alex
The From address above is a spam-trap.
The Reply-To address is valid

Alex Potter said the following on 11/12/2006 11:20:

Not much comfort there!

Sounds like the sort of typical non-answer I've had from my local MP in
the past. Lots of words with no content.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Alex Potter wrote on 11/12/2006 11:20 +0100:

Not much comfort there!


Apart from the usual we've noted your comments/passed them on the most
amusing was the UKIP response that said:

"Mr Titford has asked me to let you know that he is well aware of the
safety issues in regard to motor vehicles being compelled to have
running lights on at all times. UKIP has already spoken out against
this nonsense and will continue to vigorously oppose it.

He also promises to look into the question of the provision of cycle
rail facilities on trains. We don't normally support EU legislation as
the UKIP MEPs were elected on a platform of withdrawal from the EU.
However, we will give serious consideration to supporting this measure,
if our research tells us that it is good for cyclists, in the long term."

They sound almost sane!

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"Paul Boyd" usenet.dont.work@plusnet wrote in message
...
Alex Potter said the following on 11/12/2006 11:20:

Not much comfort there!

Sounds like the sort of typical non-answer I've had from my local MP in
the past. Lots of words with no content.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

I got these :-

Thank you for your email regarding cycles on trains and daytime running of
headlights.



The issue you raise on cycles is part of the 3rd rail pack going the
European Parliament and forms part of a larger legislative measure. The
Conservative Spokesman for Transport, Philip Bradbourn OBE informs me that
whilst he is in favour of this measure being applicable as a whole to
international journeys the matter of whether the EU should be legislating
for domestic rail services is, in his opinion, a matter of subsidiarity and
wholly within the purview of individual Member States.



With regard to the daytime running of headlights this issue has recently
been addressed in the Transport Committee where Philip was fundamentally
against the idea of the running of headlights being enforced by any
regulation at an EU level.



I understand that at present the EU Commission is looking in to a
legislative proposal on daytime running of headlights and if any proposal is
made would be scrutinised by the European Parliaments Industry Committee.



Thank you for taking the time to write to me on this matter.



Yours sincerely,



Chris



Chris Heaton-Harris MEP



_____________________________________________



Thank you for your email about the Third Railway Package and the use of
Daytime Running Lights on vehicles.

Firstly, the right for individuals to transport their bicycles on all
international and domestic trains was passed as an amendment during the
first reading of the proposal for a Regulation on International Rail
Passengers' Rights and Obligations by the European Parliament. However, the
European Commission decided not to include this amendment as they felt it
placed too onerous a burden on the train operators who would have to supply
bicycle transportation facilities. The Transport Committee of the European
Parliament does not agree with the stance of the Commission. Therefore, they
have again tabled amendments which if passed would give passengers the right
to transport their bicycles on trains. The report calling for these
amendments is currently at the drafting stage and will not be adopted until
next year.

The main confrontation between the Parliament and Council is over the scope
of the Regulation. Currently the Council only wants the Regulation to affect
trains crossing an international border. The Parliament is of the opinion
that all international and domestic trains should fall under the scope of
the Regulation. Regardless of the amendments for bicycle transportation, the
Regulation will be of little significance to the UK if it only affects
trains crossing between Member States, of which only the Channel Tunnel and
rail connections in Northern Ireland do so.

Secondly, there is no legislative proposal from the European Commission on
the use of Daytime Running Lights. It is true that the Commission recently
completed a consultation that explored the possibility of implementing
Daytime Running Lights along with scientific analysis and a cost/benefit
evaluation. However, this does not represent a proposal from the European
Commission. It is true that there are too many deaths on Europe's roads and
that we must consider ways to cut these deaths. It is also worth noting that
use of Daytime Running Lights is compulsory in twelve of Europe's Member
States throughout the year and several others during the winter.

It will be some time before we discover whether the Commission decides to
turn their consultation into a proposal. If they do, I shall consider the
evidence then and choose a course of action beneficial to all road users.

Best wishes,

Bill Newton Dunn
_________________________________________________

Ho Hum ! ...

Colin N.

Tony Raven wrote:

Apart from the usual we've noted your comments/passed them on the most
amusing was the UKIP response that said:
snipped

I got a bounce from my UKIP chappie. No response so far from any of Bliar's
lot.

--
Regards
Alex
The From address above is a spam-trap.
The Reply-To address is valid

Alex Potter said the following on 11/12/2006 15:09:

I got a bounce from my UKIP chappie. No response so far from any of Bliar's
lot.

I guess that was a deliberate spelling mistake :-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Alex Potter wrote on 11/12/2006 11:20 +0100:

Yours sincerely
Malcolm Harbour MEP"

Not much comfort there!


I just got one back from I think a Tory MEP which is interesting:

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for your letter about the Third Railway Package and the use of
Daytime Running Lights on vehicles. The right for individuals to
transport bicycles on all trains was passed as an amendment during the
first reading of the proposal for a Regulation on International Rail
Passengers' Rights and Obligations. The European Commission has decided
not to include amendment as they feel it places too onerous a burden on
train operators. The Transport Committee has tabled amendments again to
give passengers the right to transport their bicycles. The main
confrontation between Parliament and Council is over the scope of the
Regulation. Currently, Council only wants the Regulation to affect
trains crossing an international border. Parliament is of the opinion
that all international and domestic trains should be under the scope of
the Regulation. Regardless of the amendments for bicycle transportation
the Regulation will be of little significance to the UK if it only
affects trains crossing between Member States.

I am sorry that you have been misinformed, but currently there is no
legislative proposal from the European Commission on the use of Daytime
Running Lights. The Commission has recently a completed a consultation
that explored the possibilities of implementing Daytime Running Lights
along with scientific analysis and a cost/benefit evaluation. This does
not represent a proposal from the European Commission and what might be
included in a legislative proposal, if any, is conjecture. I will be
guided by the evidence put forward as to what course of action would be
best for all road users.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Duff MEP

At least it is informative and well informed, even if I might not agree
with his (undisclosed but hinted at) position.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Alex Potter wrote on 11/12/2006 11:20 +0100:

Yours sincerely
Malcolm Harbour MEP"

Not much comfort there!


I just got one back from I think a Tory MEP which is interesting:

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for your letter about the Third Railway Package and the use of
Daytime Running Lights on vehicles. The right for individuals to
transport bicycles on all trains was passed as an amendment during the
first reading of the proposal for a Regulation on International Rail
Passengers' Rights and Obligations. The European Commission has decided
not to include amendment as they feel it places too onerous a burden on
train operators. The Transport Committee has tabled amendments again to
give passengers the right to transport their bicycles. The main
confrontation between Parliament and Council is over the scope of the
Regulation. Currently, Council only wants the Regulation to affect
trains crossing an international border. Parliament is of the opinion
that all international and domestic trains should be under the scope of
the Regulation. Regardless of the amendments for bicycle transportation
the Regulation will be of little significance to the UK if it only
affects trains crossing between Member States.

I am sorry that you have been misinformed, but currently there is no
legislative proposal from the European Commission on the use of Daytime
Running Lights. The Commission has recently a completed a consultation
that explored the possibilities of implementing Daytime Running Lights
along with scientific analysis and a cost/benefit evaluation. This does
not represent a proposal from the European Commission and what might be
included in a legislative proposal, if any, is conjecture. I will be
guided by the evidence put forward as to what course of action would be
best for all road users.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Duff MEP

At least it is informative and well informed, even if I might not agree
with his (undisclosed but hinted at) position.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:20:13 GMT, Alex Potter
wrote:

I used the CTC form letter to email my MEPs and got this response:

This from one of my Labour MEPs:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your recent letter about daytime running lights (DRL).

The idea of daytime running lights requires that all vehicles run with
low intensity headlights turned on during daylight hours. The aim of this
is to increase vehicle visibility and improve road safety.

This is an idea which is soon likely to be given approval not by the
European Union, but by the United Nations. In anticipation of this the
European Union has started its own research as to how the idea could be
taken on board in the EU. The European Commission has done this by
launching a consultation with all groups involved in road transport.

The consultation is still on going. The Department for Transport has
taken part in this and made it clear the UK is opposed to the idea.

For my part I am against DRLs for many reasons. Firstly, making cars run
with headlights on will increase fuel consumption. This makes no sense at
a time when we should be seriously trying to combat climate change. It
will also increase costs for motorists.

Daytime running lights on cars will also distract attention from
vulnerable road users such as cyclists, motorbikes and pedestrians
putting them at greater risk. This would compromise road safety rather
than improve it.

Finally, it makes no sense to have an EU law which would require drivers
in Cyprus to drive with head lights on in the same way as a driver in
Sweden for example.

It is not yet guaranteed that this consultation will result in an EU law.
However, I will continue to raise objections to this idea in European
Parliament discussions on road safety.

I hope you find this information useful.

Mary Honeyball MEP for London
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great news for DRLs, but what about bikes on trains?

In message , Alex Potter
quoted Malcolm Harbour MEP:

The issue you raise on cycles is indeed part of the Third Rail package.
Whilst we are generally in favour of such a measure being applicable
overall to international journeys, the issue of legislation regarding
domestic rail services should, in our view, be a matter for the national
Governments of individual Member States.

Except most domestic rail services do form part of international journeys.
Even if we exclude domestic services in origin and destination countries,
that still leaves a lot of services, for example:

London-Holyhead (eg Paris-Dublin)
Paris-Cerebe (eg London-Barcelona)
Cologne-Frankfurt (eg London-Belgrade)
Venice-Syracuse (eg London-Malta)
Syracuse-Pozzallo (eg London-Malta)

An many more outside of the British Isles.

Yours sincerely
Malcolm Harbour MEP

Alex Potter Not much comfort there!

And a contradiction.

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