Press Release: Commission to promote rail safety rules and monitor their implementation

The European Commission will review rail safety rules and practices as well as the quality of their implementation and will consider all opportunities for improvement, it was announced at the conference on 'Railway safety: the way forward' on 8 September, 2009. Joining European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani at today's conference were the Italian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Altero Matteoli; Brian Simpson, Chairman of the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament. The conference was convened in the aftermath of the accident which had occurred in Viareggio, Italy, on 29 June, when a freight train derailed and a wagon exploded, leaving a high number of victims.

European Commission: MEMO/09/377: Background on Railway safety http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/377&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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