Rail boss pleads for ProRail's independence

Changing ProrRail's independent position as track manager would be a terrible idea, ProRail CEO Pier Eringa said in Parliament on Wednesday. The parliamentarians are considering ProRail's position as part of the response to the Fyra debacle, NU.nl reports. "ProRail is of everyone. Of the passengers, the freight operators and other carriers on the track. This calls for an independent position", Eringa said."European commitments also need this." And that is why ProRail can not become part of NS or the government, according to him. ProRail is currently an independent company with its own Supervisory Board, own management and with the state as sole shareholder. But following the Fyra debacle, State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure wants to draw the track manager closer to the ministry in an effort to get more control over ProRail. This plan was met with fierce opposition and astonishment from unions and ProRail's work council, especially given that the investigation into the Fyra debacle revealed that ProRail had little to do with it. Eringa thinks that instead of taking away ProRail's independence, the government should instead focus on improving the command structure over the railway.