The impairment of two major Alpine passages, the Frejus and Gotthard Base Tunnels, has already caused enough trouble to operators, especially from Italy. With the estimated losses from the closure being extremely high, it is essential to safeguard the industry in the region. For ERFA, this could be done by extending some existing supportive measures while introducing new ones.

Dr. Andrea Giuricin, transport economist at the Milan-Bicocca Univesity, estimated that partial or total closures might have a negative yearly impact of 165 million euros on rail freight companies active along these corridors. The impact of these disruptions, according to Giuricin, is and will be felt by the whole economic system, especially in Italy. Specifically, Italian companies might lose almost 50 million euros per year, roughly a third of the total, just in the short term.

Most of the impact, calculated by Giuricin at 32 million euros, concerns the Frejus Railway between France and Italy. The line is currently completely closed and might be until the end of 2024 after a landslide in August caused the closure of the Frejus Tunnel. When it comes to the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which has been working partially since a train derailment in August, the annual loss is estimated at 15 million euros. Giuricin claims these losses could go up to 141 million euros in the long run.

When customers switch modes, there’s no going back

One of the main reasons that could lead to a long-term financial loss is the difficulty of bringing customers back to rail after they change transport modes due to a disruption, concluded Giuricin. Silvia De Rocchi, regulatory affairs director at Captrain Italia, agreed and analysed the situation effectively: “When clients are forced to switch to other modes of transportation for 18 months, it is difficult to get them back. The coming months will be extremely challenging for the rail freight sector in the region,” she said.

The loss of customers results from technical obstacles that prevent companies from using alternative routes effectively. For instance, Alpine tunnels all meet different technical, safety and interoperability requirements, making the diversion of P400 services, among others, nearly impossible.

What is being done

ERFA, which monitors the situation closely, proposed a set of measures that will help ensure the financial viability of rail freight operators relying on Trans-Alpine traffic. The association mentioned that the infrastructure managers involved must first ensure that the tunnels will be open again as soon as possible. Considering the amount and type of work needed to ensure a secure reopening, however, it is unclear how IMs could speed up the process.

On the other hand, ERFA also proposed that rail freight operations continue enjoying prioritisation over passenger services. At least in the Gotthard Base Tunnel case, this seems to be well understood. SBB currently prioritises freight trains through the tunnel on the weekdays and allows passenger traffic to increase slightly during the weekends.

What more is needed?

The gist of the proposals is concentrated in two suggested measures: the first concerns planned construction works. ERFA stresses that planned works on the Trans-Alpine axis should be reassessed to secure capacity. For example, carrying out construction on routes such as Lötschberg during 2024 could prove devastating for the industry and reduce capacity even more.

Moreover, track access charges should also be re-examined. At least in the case of Italy, ERFA suggests that TAC mark-ups should freeze for rail freight operators. Finally, the association proposes that railway undertakings affected by the situation should also be awarded direct financial compensation to cope with the increasingly challenging problem.