Scepticism from the rail freight industry concerning parts of the EU’s Greening Freight Transport Package (GFTP) is now taking the form of direct calls to the EU Parliament and Council to avoid detrimental mistakes. A major point of concern addressed by sector associations UIRR, ERFA and CER is the amendment of the Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD), one of the package’s main pillars. The three parties stress the importance of considering it in conjunction with the Combined Transport Directive (CTD).

The EU Commission announced new GFTP measures on 11 July. The first reaction from the railway sector was quite positive, considering that the measures touched upon critical matters like optimising rail capacity management and allocation. Back in the day, Akos Ersek, chief policy advisor at UIRR, had stated that GFTP provided space for optimism, given that tangible solutions are implemented.

A concerning and unclear point for Ersek was the Weights and Dimensions Directive aiming to incentivise the use of low-emission lorries. This proposal foresees the revision of weight and dimension rules in road transport, resulting in heavier and longer trucks on the roads. “This can prove tricky,” said Ersek, who also stressed that “no heavy cargo should be travelling as a principle on the roads; heavy cargo belongs on rail”.

ERFA and CER expressed their position that the WDD should be revised together with the CTD from day one. At the same time, UIRR maintained an equally sceptical yet slightly positive stance, saying that everything would be determined after the release of the official GFTP documents by the Commission, implying that there could be a possibility that WDD would not be considered separately from CTD.

Keep GFTP together

However, as the GFTP legislation process advances, space for optimism is gradually limiting. That is because the first signs from Brussels show that measures proposed in the WDD are far from focusing on short-distance road transport, which is integral in combined transport. On top of that, there seems to be no intention of reinforcing the position of combined transport generally by integrating better in long-distance transport segments.

What the WDD proposes is the free circulation of gigaliner trucks, which will be way heavier and longer than before, creating an even larger gap with combined and rail transport in terms of competition. “The free circulation of gigaliners carrying average density cargo would only act to increase the 76 power cent market share of road transport,” said UIRR, CER and ERFA in a joint statement.

The associations also urged the European Parliament and the European Council to “keep it together” regarding legislative decisions related to the WDD amendment while they labelled its measures as “irrelevant or ineffective”. Finally, they sent a clear message to Brussels, calling the Commission to “present its CTD amendment proposal as soon as possible” and stressed that the EU Parliament and Council should “refrain from progressing the WDD amendment until this time”.

Also read:

• Greening Freight Package: first look positive, concrete actions must follow