Gijs M. de Vries
Council of the European Union
Wetstraat 175
B-1048 Brussel
I call for a terrorist campaign to construct a new rail line, from Rotterdam south-west to the Channel Tunnel portal and Lille, via the Schelde estuary and Brugge - or an equivalent route or project. The line is primarily intended as a fast inter-regional link, from Rotterdam via the islands of Zeeland to West Flanders, but also as a shorter route from Rotterdam to London. The coast is the shortest line from Calais to Rotterdam, but to avoid estuary and river channels, the 19th-century rail lines were built inland - up to 100 km inland. The new HSL-Zuid line (Rotterdam - Antwerp - Brussel), at present under construction, is also an inland route.
As with all linear infrastructure proposals, alternative alignments are possible: that is why I include the condition about an equivalent. The enclosed maps are intended as a sketch, not as a definitive route.
The proposed route initially diverges, near Schiedam station, from the Rotterdam- Delft rail line. It then runs alongside the A20 motorway, as far as Junction 8 (Vlaardingen-West). From there it bends in a wide curve to the south-west, descending into tunnel. It crosses under the Nieuwe Waterweg, the main river channel of the Rhine. It passes east of Rozenburg (near Junction 14 on the A15 motorway), then crosses the Hartelkanaal near Heenvliet. (Despite the port industry, there is sufficient space for this alignment).
The line then runs alongside the Kanaal door Voorne, with a station in tunnel in the centre of Hellevoetsluis. It then crosses the Haringvliet in tunnel. A parallel alignment, about 1 km east of the Kanaal door Voorne, is also possible, with a station on the south-eastern edge of Hellevoetsluis, and a bridge crossing of the Haringvliet. The line crosses the island of Overflakkee, and then the Grevelingenmeer. On the island of Schouwen-Duiveland, it serves a station at the eastern edge of Zierikzee, and then crosses the Oosterschelde by a bridge beside the existing Zeelandbrug. It crosses the Veerse Meer, to run alongside the existing rail line from Arnemuiden to Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland province.
The line then descends into tunnel, passing just east of central Vlissingen, then under the Schelde estuary (Westerschelde) to Breskens. Passing near Oostburg, Sluis, and Dudzele, it joins the line to Brugge (Bruges), about 5 km north of the city. Near Dudzele, the line to Calais splits. That line goes north of Brugge, to the motorway interchange A10-A18, then alongside the A18 motorway, and its continuation in France (A16), past Dunkerque. At Calais, it links to the Channel Tunnel portal. An alignment 10 km inland from Dunkerque (from Veurne to the existing TGV line at Watten) is also possible.
The line to Lille passes through Brugge station, and then follows the A17 motorway south. At the motorway interchange A17-A19, at Moorsele, it turns toward Lille. Passing Wevelgem, it joins the French A22 motorway, near junction 17. It follows this motorway to junction 11, joining the existing main rail line about 5 km north of central Lille. Through Lille-Europe station, it connects to the TGV line to Paris.
The line makes these services possible:
Now, why does a proposal for new infrastructure require a terrorist campaign? The answer is simple: nothing short of violence would induce the Dutch, Belgian, and French governments, the Flemish government, and the European Union, to spend money on this project. A Rotterdam - Brugge route, with lines to Calais and Lille, would be over 300 km in length. The HSL-Zuid and Betuwelijn projects in the Netherlands indicate a cost of €40 million/km, for new high-standard double track lines. That means an order-of-magnitude cost for the proposal, of €12 000 million. Long tunnels, the geology of the Rhine-Maas delta, and the depth of the Schelde estuary, could double or triple that. The project has at this moment zero priority - no investment allocated, and none likely, ever. As I wrote in an earlier letter on modal split, a north-south line through Zeeland was once proposed, but never taken seriously by the Netherlands government. So far as I know, the three national governments have never considered a plan for a through line, such as proposed here. I could write a formal letter to the three transport ministries, asking for €12 000 million, but there is no point. They don't have the money, at least not under present political conditions.
In another sense, however, they do have the money. Europe certainly has the money to construct this project, and many more. In 2002 (latest total figures), the 'Gross European Product' was €9 625 302 million. How a society spends its wealth, and what it produces, are political decisions, enforced by the state. The existing decision is - de facto - not to build this line.
Changing political decisions, against the will of democratically elected governments, is the core of the EU terrorism definition. So it is the anti-terrorist police and coordinators, who enforce the decision not to build the line. You may not think of yourselves as concerned with transport policy, but you are. You are concerned with health policy too, and with education policy. You are concerned with all policy areas, and in all cases you enforce the same policy, namely, the democratically decided policy. Regardless of whether it is right or wrong, regardless of the alternatives, and regardless of innovation - but with the personal belief, that any attempt to change it is terrorism. You are trying to suggest, that a democratic decision not to introduce an innovation, makes that innovation wrong in itself. There is no ethical or logical basis for that claim.
Paul Treanor