Position Paper on 'Issues of Rail Infrastructure' 08/07/10

Combined Transport was responsible for every fourth freight train in France, Germany, Austria, and Italy last year. McKinsey & Co. found that Combined Transport trains accounted for only 15% of all European rail freight traffic in 2003.  Statistics show that Combined Transport has outgrown conventional rail freight by about 8% year-on-year over the past six years.

Access to and the conditions of use of the rail infrastructure in Europe are very important to Combined Transport operators, who organise this system of transport which is the key facilitator of modal shift from road to sustainable (electrified) rail.  The re-cast of the Directives contained in the First Railway Package of 2001, presently contemplated by European legislators, offers a ripe opportunity for UIRR to summarise its position on the topic of rail infrastructure.