"Establishing this cross-Europe rail freight axis will promote rail as an attractive option to transport goods over middle to long distances," says the European Commission's vice-president in charge of transport Antonio Tajani. "The signature of this letter of intent reflects a common commitment to work for the long term competitiveness of rail freight across Europe."

Currently about 1,200 miles of European track is equipped with ERTMS. Fuller deployment of ERTMS would replace more than 20 different national train control and command systems in Europe. All major European rail freight corridors, as well as major freight hubs and terminals, are expected to be equipped by 2020. Advocates say this would remove a major technical barrier to international rail traffic.

Ironically, while DB Schenker's Smith has come out in favor of improving the UK's rail network, his firm's parent company, Deutsche Bahn AG, has expressed serious doubts about the European network plan, claiming it could be disadvantageous for Germany. DB management has asked for alternative solutions it argues will do a better job of shifting freight to rail. "No other country in Europe would be as strongly affected by this regulation as Germany," says DB chairman and CEO Hartmut Mehdorn. "It would mean a huge increase in red tape, destroy existing network capacities and severely impair the punctuality of regular transports in our complex network."

Mehdorn says he agrees that Europe needs an efficient freight transport system, but he believes the corridor plan as currently presented would inhibit rather than support such a goal. "The regulation would not strengthen rail freight but would actually weaken rail transport as a whole," he maintains.