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The Adriazug pilot project has been launched in a bid to reduce the burden of HGV traffic on transit routes through the Alps.

28 April saw the breakthrough right in the middle of the almost 3-kilometer-long Lötschberg rail tunnel under the Swiss Alps.

The summit meeting last week between Italian leader Mario Monti and French president François Hollande covered plenty of ground - except for a rapid and effective modal shift from road to rail.

New tunnels crossing the Alps are feverishly being built elsewhere, but the Tende line between Turin and Nice is due to be closed. People on both sides of the border are protesting, however. Can this historic railway line still be saved?

During a Conciliation meeting held on 16 March the European Parliament and the European Commission reached an agreement on issues concerning the Second railway package. Under the agreement rail freight markets (incl. cabotage) are to be completely opened up as of 2007. Agreement was also reached on new regulations for railway safety and interoperability as well as the establishment of a European Railway Agency.

For some time now Switzerland's Bundesrat [Federal Council] has been wanting to push ahead with relocating freight-related transit traffic from the road to the rail by creating an Alpine transit exchange. Transit quotas for freight on the road could then be auctioned from the exchange.

The treatment of the Eurovignette Directive by the transport ministers of the EU states is postponed until 28th of September. The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) is worried about the renewed delay and fears the dilution of a central concern of the EU Commission and Parliament, at the expense of climate protection and the population living along the motorways.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA International) very much welcomes the fact that the EU now intends to set a course that reflects the true costs of transport and is taking a first step by amending Directive 2006/38/EC ("Eurovignette III"). The Directive must also relieve the burden on the Alpine region, which is particularly sensitive ecologically and whose population has to bear particularly high external costs; it must also contribute more to sustainability in freight transport. One important step is a sound directive on transport infrastructure costs, i.e. one that includes the efficient and consistent allocation of all relevant costs. Everyone stands to benefit from its success: the population, with a healthier, safer and better quality of life, and the transport industry, with more reliable transit routes. Indeed, the risks affect the local population as much as they affect those travelling through.

The transport ministers of Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, France and Slovenia have commissioned an in-depth analysis relating to the introduction of the Alpine Crossing Exchange. At a meeting of the ministers in Vienna/A a body was entrusted with clarifying the preconditions for the implementation of the three traffic management systems, specifically the Alpine Crossing Exchange, the emissions trading scheme and "Toll plus".