European railway chiefs discuss new rail freight transport corridors

Time:2011-12-28 Browse:54 Author:RISINGSUN

THE CEOs of four rail freight companies, DB Schenker Rail (Germany), TX Logistik (Germany), SBB Cargo (Switzerland) and BLS Cargo (Switzerland), have met in Berlin to present their requirements for the development of the European rail freight transport corridors defined by the European Commission.

Under the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the four agreed on a joint position which will be actively promoted to policymakers and national infrastructure managers, a statement said.


"Given that the growth forecast for European rail freight mainly concerns cross-border corridors, for example the Corridor Rotterdam-Genoa, it is important to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks along those routes," it said.


On the Rotterdam-Genoa Corridor, bottlenecks are in Oberhausen, Basel, Chiasso and Milan.


Said Dirk Stahl, CEO of Swiss company BLS Cargo: "The new infrastructure of the Betuwe line, the Lotschberg Tunnel and the Gotthard Base Tunnel must be linked to create an efficient end-to-end corridor. Furthermore, capacity bottlenecks need to be alleviated."


According to Dr Alexander Hedderich, CEO of DB Schenker Rail, "improving the corridor`s efficiency involves numerous infrastructure investments. Construction and information about these works must be coordinated on an international level to maintain the best possible quality of service."


The speakers also noted that capacity can be increased if priority is given also to freight trains, operational processes are harmonised, and train paths are constructed based on market needs.


"Railway operators continue to struggle with different national rules, such as complex homologation procedures and different safety systems," said Nicolas Perrin, CEO of Swiss company SBB Cargo. "This results in additional costs which reduce the advantages of rail in cross-border transport. This clearly goes against the objective of market opening in Europe and puts rail at a disadvantage to road transport," he added.


It is proposed that nine international rail freight corridors, giving more priority to freight trains, are to be established by 2015 by the European Union.


Corridor 1, also known as ERTMS Corridor A, connects Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Zeebrugge (Belgium) with Genoa (on the Italian coast) via Cologne, Duisburg, Mannheim, Basel, and two parallel routes in Switzerland.