European ports find themselves embedded in ever-changing economic and logistics systems. It is important that policy initiatives are based on a sound knowledge of market processes. This is also relevant in the context of ongoing developments in the European transport infrastructure network.
A report published on the website of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), from which we present several aspects concerning railway transport, aims at providing a deeper understanding of the market dynamics behind freight distribution patterns in the European port system. The report aims for a balanced approach covering all port regions in Europe and large as well as mid-sized and small ports. The findings of the report serve as input for the ongoing discussion on the revision of the TEN-T program of the European Commission. This report has been elaborated within the framework of the existing service agreement between the European Sea Ports Organisation and the Institute of Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp (ITMMA), an institute of the University of Antwerp.
The present report includes a short chapter dedicated to rail services, which presents the experts’ opinions about some key decisions that forwarders can adopt in improving rail transport in port regions. Dedicated trains and long-term agreements are common when the rail service is provided by railway undertakings which are independent of the senders. Railway undertakings are eager to sign contracts as they have to increase the turnaround rate of the rolling stock and thereby increase profitability. Contracts for dedicated trains are very common in the United Kingdom. The decision to opt for dedicated trains has been motivated by the problems that affect road transport, in particular the shortage of drivers, as well as the fear that the desired rail capacities would not be available. “Obviously, dedicated trains are only a solution for those with a sufficient volume of traffic. Other contract arrangements include a shipping line filling a predefined percentage of the total capacity of the shuttle trains”, the report shows.
The specialists who elaborated this report believe that there are three key decisions for rail operators to make when setting up a new container service: the service frequency (including the fixed days/hours of the week for departure/arrival), the capacity of the train combination and the number of stops at intermediate terminals (if any). These elements are highly interrelated, the experts believe. Rail service frequencies in hinterland transportation largely depend on the route considered, but typically range between one and six departures per week. The optimal load capacity of a train combination depends on cargo availability, shippers’ needs for transit time or other service elements and choices made with respect to the two other key variables.
Market players can also actively participate in rail services through joint ventures arrangements or via subsidiaries. A good example is provided by European Rail Shuttle (ERS), a subsidiary of the AP Moller Group. ERS was initially centred on the port of Rotterdam, but it has now been extended to the German ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven, to Belgian ports Zeebrugge and Antwerp and to inland terminals in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. ERS acts as an intermediary between Maersk Line and the rail undertakings in the countries it operates in, managing the contracts for train staff and traction and renting out empty space to third party shipping companies. “While the institutional modification has major impacts on the organisation of rail transport supply, it is also changing the configuration of rail service networks”, the report shows.
There are also major differences in rail demand in European ports. Among the largest rail ports in Europe we find Hamburg (1.89 million TEU in 2008, 1.8 million TEU in 2007), Rotterdam (905,000 TEU in 2007), Antwerp (700,000 TEU in 2006), Bremerhaven (812,000 TEU in 2007), Zeebrugge (7.3 millions tons of containerized cargo in 2007), Gothenburg (342,000 TEU in 2008 and 322,000 TEU in 2007), Marseille (130,000 TEU in 2007) and Le Havre (98,000 TEU in 2007).
by Elena Ilie
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