Combined traffic (CT) in Europe and Asia has been profoundly affected by the economic crisis in 2009, especially in the car industry, one of the main beneficiaries of this type of transport. Combined transport in Europe was one of the most profitable means of freight transport, the growth ratio during 2000-2008 exceeding even road cargo transport. EU aims at shifting 116 million tonnes per year from roads to rails by 2015.
Unlike intermodal traffic, combined transport implies railway cargo traffic on the longest distance of the route and road transport on the remaining part of the route, this last part, as well as its duration being as short as possible. RO-LA represents a quarter of the entire combined transport market.
In Europe, combined transport has known its most significant growth, with 54% higher volumes during 1997-2006 as compared to road transport which amounted to 40% and rail transport with 6%. The undertakings operating combined transport are represented by Union of Rail-Road Companies (UIRR), which reunites the most important CT operators, such as Hupac, Okombi, Novatrans, Kombiverkehr, Adria Kombi (Luka Koper Group) etc. In 2007, the UIRR member companies have succeeding in shipping 3 million multiple-units or 11,500 trucks/day and which determined the operation of 500 trains every day.
Combined transport services turn Pan-European Corridors into account
In the period after 2007, the CEEC market evolved, the motivation of the RO-LA transport development being the fact the large Western companies have built car facilities in Eastern Europe or have taken over Eastern manufacturers thus attracting the interest of large international carriers. A very dynamic car market has developed over the past years in Turkey, which immediately became the preferred destination of CT operators. A specific service is Bosphorus Express, a big part of the route corresponding to Pan-European Corridor X. Pan-European Corridors are not the only ones to be turned into account thanks to combined transport, the CT also representing the salvation of sidings, as well as lines not included in the Pan-European network where traffic has severely dropped. A good example is Romania where RO-LA pilot transport covers a route which by-passes Corridor IV.
State granted subsidies represented the determining factor for large European players to access the CT market. Rail Cargo Austria was the first to break the ice, in 2005 the company taking over Okombi, the largest CT carrier in Europe. In November 2009, SNCF took over Novatrans, the biggest French RO-LA carrier. In some countries, state subsidies are the only ones to maintain RO-LA services. Therefore, the Czech operator BohemiaKombi providing RO-LA services on Lovosice-Dresda route (Germany) was forced to shut down business after the Czech state refused to further grant subsidies after the inauguration of a new highway which connected the two locations. In Hungary, the Hungarokombi company (HK), operator on Ebenfurt Gyor- Sopron rail line, was forced to shut down activity during 2005-2007 because the company could not persuade the Hungarian and Austrian government on the introduction of road transport charges, the highway competition proving too fierce for HK. This type of failures determined EU to intervene on the CT market by elaborating several programmes aimed at stimulating combined transport. Thus, in July 2008, the European Union gave its consent on financing the combined line which connects the Hungarian city of Szeged and the Austrian locality of Wels. The projects supported by EU, through UIRR and UIC are: SINGER (Slovenian INtermodal Gateway to European Rail) aimed at connecting the port of Koper and the intermodal centres in Eastern Europe (Budapest, Belgrade), RoMo-NET, connecting Constanta and Ragensburg (Germany), SEEIS (South East European Intermodal Services), through which Ljubljana could become a communication hub for intermodal and combined transport between western centres (Verona, Munich) and eastern centres in Serbia, Greece or Turkey. The fall of automotive industry has delayed these plans, the market of RO-LA combined transport being, currently, on hold and hoping for a recovery as late as 2011 since prospects for 2010 are dark with a 30% fall, smaller than that in 2009 which hit 44%. According to recent studies elaborated by UIC’s Combined Transport Group and included in the “Agenda 2015 for Combined Transport” programme, RO-LA transport should reach a level of 116 million tonnes by 2015.
by Alin Lupulescu
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