European Railfreight Shows Signs Of Revival

By Briginshaw, David

Europe’s rail network is now open to all railfreight operators- at least in theory. While there are encouraging signs that railfreight may have turned a corner, there are still many obstacles to overcome, reports David Briginshaw from Brussels.

THE Eurailfreight conference, staged recently in the Belgian capital by the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Companies (CER), was a well-attended and lively event. In his opening address, Mr Aad Veenman, CER chairman and CEO of Netherlands Railways, reminded delegates that on January 1 the European railfreight market became completely open. “This marks the end of a four-year process-everyone can go everywhere.”

The European Union’s (EU) transport commissioner, Mr Jacques Barrot, sounded upbeat: “Railfreight’s market share, which has declined in most EU member states since the 1970s, has now stabilised and is moving into a new era.” Barrot says the European Commission (EC) is striving to achieve a level playing field for transport, and the Eurovignette directive scheduled for next year will introduce road pricing for road hauliers.

“Equal access to the infrastructure and rail services is as essential as the transparency of the procedures needed to increase interoperability,” says Barrot. “The harmonisation and simplification of the technical norms of interoperability will give railways the opportunity to reduce costs.”

Barrot is pleased with three developments since the opening of the European railfreight market:

* service quality of international railfreight has improved along corridors where there is significant competition between operators

* safety has not been affected, and

* rail’s performance is much better in countries where the market is open to competition.

Barrot admits that progress towards railfreight liberalisation under the first railway package has differed between countries. “One country is only at the start of the process,” he says. “We will observe infractions regarding the first railway package in detail so that all member states respect open access. We will also keep a close eye on the implementation of legislation regarding the second railway package. The third railway package is now at the European Parliament Action by the EU is not sufficient in itself-we need better cooperation in the railway sector.”

This went some way towards answering the concerns of Drs Bert Klerk, chairman of both the Association of European Infrastructure Managers (EIM) and the Dutch track authority ProRail. “It is one thing to discuss the third railway package, but it is another to implement the first,” says Klerk, who believes this is absolutely vital. “We need independent allocation of train paths and a strong regulator to ensure fair access. We need a discussion on how to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks and non-commercial stops at borders. We should be ashamed that we still have them.”

Veenman says the rail industry needs to address four key areas: capacity, charging, cross-subsidy, and debt. “Some countries don’t realise they are cross-subsidising freight from passenger, and some railways are still burdened with historic debt which affects their ability to compete. We must find a solution for this.”

Mr Wolfgang Tiefensee, Germany’s federal minister of transport, highlighted another problem that needs to be addressed urgently. He said the mutual acceptance of rolling stock by all EU countries is a priority in conjunction with the third railway package.

Mr Aad Veenman (left), CER chairman and CEO of Netherlands Railways, with Mr Wolfgang Tiefensee, Germany’s federal minister of transport.

This view was vigorously reinforced by Mr Andr Navarri, chairman of the Association of European Railway Industries (Unife) and president of Bombardier Transportation; “We need to stop national acceptance of rolling stock, it is a nonsense which we can’t afford. We must have cross-acceptance. Norway and Sweden have the same systems but it takes four to five times longer to accept new rolling stock in Norway than in Sweden. It is a waste of time and money.”

As at every European railway conference, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) was a hot topic for debate. Navarri says it is vital to implement the train control element of ERTMS-European Train Control System (ETCS)-at the 2.3.0 specification.

Mr Karel Vinck, the European coordinator for ERTMS, says that Europe has now standardised on 2.3.0, but with an evolution to 3.0.0. He says six ERTMS railfreight corridors are defined, and letters of intent have been signed for three of them, and partially for a fourth. ERTMS should be largely deployed on corridor A-the most advanced-by 2012. Each corridor has an executive committee for strategic planning, a management committee, a working group, and a legal structure. EU funding is available for up to 50% of eligible costs for both the track-side and on-board equipment, and limits per kilometre and locomotive have been set.

“I think the corridor approach is right, otherwise nothing will happen,” says Vinck. “You don’t have to complete the last section of the last corridor to get the benefits. We have euro500 million for 200713. At the end of 2008 or early in 2009, we have to re-evaluate our needs. Success is in our hands. If we can show progress in the next few years, then we can get more funds in the next funding round.”

This was supported by Barrot. “We must concentrate on a few corridors that will demonstrate the tangible benefits of interoperability.” But rather surprisingly, Barrot says the EU will not determine priorities as this is the responsibility of member states.

Klerk wants a coordinated implementation strategy involving both the infrastructure and the trains. This was emphasised by a speaker from BLS, Switzerland, who said the new Lotschberg base tunnel will only accept trains equipped with ETCS Level 2 when it opens in June. He wants the ERTMS corridor that includes the Lotschberg to be implemented as quickly as possible.

There is a large black cloud looming over continental Europe in the form of the so-called Gigaliner. This is an articulated truck with a trailer measuring up to 25m long and able to carry up to 60 tonnes of freight-the maximum is currently 44 tonnes in most EU countries. The Gigaliner is already operating in Scandinavia and is on trial in Germany and The Netherlands.

Tiefensee says results of the trials will be presented next year. “There could be a loss of about 10% of traffic from rail to road, with further shifts in the future,” he forecasts. Mr Daniel Nordmann, CEO of SBB Cargo, describes the Gigaliner as “a great threat to rail.” There is certainly no doubt about that.

“Railfreight’s market share has now stabilised and is moving into a new era.”

Jacques Barrot

Copyright Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation Mar 2007

(c) 2007 International Railway Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.