Joint call for reform on Europe’s Rail Freight Corridors
Two representative bodies, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), and the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) have put their joint weight behind a qualified endorsement of Europe’s Rail Freight Corridors. They agree...Read more
This is the modal shift potential of countries on the New Silk Road
Dutch research and consultancy firm Panteia has developed a method for calculating the modal shift potential of traffic flows between the Netherlands and Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. The conclusion: 44,500 TEUs of cargo could be...Read more
Rail Baltica could lift 5,000 trucks from Polish-Lithuania border per day
More than 5 thousand trucks per day currently cross the border between Poland and Lithuania. Imagine if this could be shifted to rail. It is an ambition al but unrealistic, as the megaproject Rail Baltica...Read more
EU supports rail in the Netherlands with 62 million
The European Commission has made available 62 million euro in subsidies for infrastructure projects in the Netherlands. Brussels is contributing 8.7 million euros to the work on the Theemsweg route in the Rotterdam port area...Read more
Belgian rail freight sector asks waiver of track access charges 2020
The Belgian Rail Freight Forum has asked its government for short-term support to get the sector through the crisis. At the peak of the pandemic, there was an average 30 per cent less demand for...Read more
Negative sentiment over combined transport in 2019
European combined transport had a difficult year in 2019. It was a year of reckoning after the optimism of the year before, concludes the UIRR. The industry association for combined transport published its annual report...Read more
New rules to speed up TEN-T completion formed
New rules to make administrative procedures for infrastructure simpler will speed up the completion of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). A provisional agreement has been reached by the European Parliament and Council on Tuesday to...Read more
‘Help Europe recover with user-pays, polluter-pays principles’
Europe’s economic recovery after COVID-19 must be green, also in transport. Transport should help finance the recovery, through application of user-pays and polluter-pays principles. This is the suggestion in the new position paper put forward...Read more
EU rail sector joins forces for sustainable and smart mobility
The European rail sector has joined forces to contribute to the forthcoming EU strategy for sustainable and smart mobility. Represented by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the Association of the European...Read more
UK government to announce massive investment plans
This week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a massive programme of infrastructure investment for the UK. There is speculation as to how big the programme will be, and where the money will...Read more
EU proposes waiving of track access charges as support measure
The European Commission has proposed a regulation that allows EU Member States to waive or reduce track access charges as well as reservation charges. This is to support railway undertakings, which are facing challenging times...Read more
Scientists: European Silk Road should help recover Europe post-corona
A European Silk Road could contribute to the recovery of Europe after COVID-19. Alternatively, a network of high-speed railway lines should help restoring the continent. This was concluded by Economists at the Vienna Institute for...Read more
TEN-T network will not make 2030 deadline, says EU Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors concludes that the TEN-T network will not be complete by 2030, the deadline which has been set for the European core transport network. What is more, the delays in the...Read more
European Green Deal impossible without longer trains
In order to implement the European Green Deal, the rail sector should develop standardisation and interoperability. Among other things, this means the necessity of introducing the 740-metre or even longer freight trains on the railway...Read more
No more ‘noisy trains’ in Switzerland from next month
Switzerland will enforce the ban on the use of railway wagons with cast iron brake blocks from 1 July. These trains are much noisier than those with composite brakes. Violators of the new rule should...Read more
‘Freed-up capacity for freight should be new normal’
Now that passenger traffic gradually returns to the railways of Europe, it is a good moment to reflect on the much-debated capacity issue for freight. If there is one lesson learnt from the corona crisis,...Read more