UIRR Press release: Berlin Declaration - SSG progress report 23/09/20

< Back to list

Berlin Declaration for rail freight and Sector Statement Group progress report

 

The Berlin Declaration of EU ministers of transport – “European rail freight within the context of European corridors for competitive rail freight”1 has been issued on Monday – winning praise from the rail freight sector, which includes Combined Transport Operators as well. This expression of strong support of European transport policymakers towards international rail freight follows in the path of the 2016 Rotterdam Declaration and the 2018 Vienna Declaration.

The desire to accelerate post-COVID economic recovery, while meeting the goals of the European Green Deal through more digitalization and R&D motivated the current statement of ministers.

The Sector Statement Group (SSG), created in parallel to the Rotterdam Declaration, is active on 12 initiatives spearheaded by the sector itself to boost the performance of rail freight. UIRR is part of the effort and is responsible for the ETA prediction activity.

The summary status-report of the SSG can be found here:
www.uirr.com SSG Follow-up - Rail Freight Corridors

The transformation of European rail freight continues at a pace not seen before. Road-rail Combined Transport filled every second freight train in 2019 – a historic high. This trend will only strengthen as the volume of commodities transported using conventional rail freight continues to decline, while the pressure is high to increase asset utilisation and the preferred unit of shipment for vast portions of the economy is the truckload.

Intermodal operators are working hand-in-hand with the rail freight sector to develop the levels of service expected by the marketplace. Their success depends on broad support from policymakers, who have to make sure that a fair, mode-neutral regulatory framework is created, while international freight trains have access to a reliably performing infrastructure and the infrastructure capacities needed to extend the quality expected by the market. The competitiveness of the European economy and the parallel desire for a livable continent requires a robust rail freight network.

* * *


1 https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/EN/Documents/K/innovative-rail-transport-21-09-2020.pdf?__blob=publicationFile


Ralf-Charley Schultze

“A joint effort of political decisionmakers and the key players of the rail freight sector is a must to enable the performance needed for rail freight to fulfill its mission related to the European Green Deal and to simultaneously accelerate the post-COVID economic recovery of our continent. - pointed out UIRR President Ralf-Charley Schultze.

 

 

The Berlin Declaration of EU ministers of transport – “European rail freight within the context of European corridors for competitive rail freight”1 has been issued on Monday – winning praise from the rail freight sector, which includes Combined Transport Operators as well. This expression of strong support of European transport policymakers towards international rail freight follows in the path of the 2016 Rotterdam Declaration and the 2018 Vienna Declaration.

The desire to accelerate post-COVID economic recovery, while meeting the goals of the European Green Deal through more digitalization and R&D motivated the current statement of ministers.

The Sector Statement Group (SSG), created in parallel to the Rotterdam Declaration, is active on 12 initiatives spearheaded by the sector itself to boost the performance of rail freight. UIRR is part of the effort and is responsible for the ETA prediction activity.

The summary status-report of the SSG can be found here:
www.uirr.com SSG Follow-up - Rail Freight Corridors

The transformation of European rail freight continues at a pace not seen before. Road-rail Combined Transport filled every second freight train in 2019 – a historic high. This trend will only strengthen as the volume of commodities transported using conventional rail freight continues to decline, while the pressure is high to increase asset utilisation and the preferred unit of shipment for vast portions of the economy is the truckload.

Intermodal operators are working hand-in-hand with the rail freight sector to develop the levels of service expected by the marketplace. Their success depends on broad support from policymakers, who have to make sure that a fair, mode-neutral regulatory framework is created, while international freight trains have access to a reliably performing infrastructure and the infrastructure capacities needed to extend the quality expected by the market. The competitiveness of the European economy and the parallel desire for a livable continent requires a robust rail freight network.

* * *

1 https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/EN/Documents/K/innovative-rail-transport-21-09-2020.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

Ralf-Charley Schultze

“A joint effort of political decisionmakers and the key players of the rail freight sector is a must to enable the performance needed for rail freight to fulfill its mission related to the European Green Deal and to simultaneously accelerate the post-COVID economic recovery of our continent. - pointed out UIRR President Ralf-Charley Schultze.

Who is UIRR?

Founded in 1970, the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR) represents the interests of European road-rail Combined Transport Operators and Transhipment Terminal Managers.

Road-Rail Combined Transport (CT) is a system of freight forwarding which is based on efficiently and economically inserting electric rail into long-distance (road) transport-chains through the use of intermodal loading units (ILU).

31, rue Montoyer - bte 11 | B-1000 | Brussels

www.uirr.com | headoffice.brussels@uirr.com
Tel. : +32 2 548 78 90

Top