At the time when climate change is a central element in all economic decisions and choices, railway transport has become the right alternative to any other means of transport for carrying goods, either bulk or dangerous goods. If we compare road to rail, 90% of the total domestic transport emissions come from the road whilst rail is responsible for only 0.6% of diesel emissions. Between 1990 and 2005, the European railways managed to cut their CO2 emissions by 21%, and, according to the new White Paper on Transport, EU member states will reduce emissions by 80 to 95% compared to 1990.
Rail freight is the eco-friendly solution to transport more goods in a better way for the climate. A study conducted by UIC shows that CO2 emissions are indeed 8 times less then the road and rail freight is actually the most energy efficient transport mode. It is also the most efficient transport mode from a land use point of view because it avoids congestion and guarantees safety in the transport of dangerous goods. And one should not forget another of the major advantages of rail: the reduction of exhaust emissions, often highly concentrated in cities because of the lorries that are still running inside cities.
“On long distances, the decarbonisation alternatives for road transport are reduced and the multimodality of freight transport needs to become economically attractive for carriers”.
Recent CER data shows that for the full year 2010 compared to 2009, rail freight increased by 5.4% in Western Europe and by more than 7% in Eastern Europe.
The results of 4Q2010 show a mixed picture for the rail freight sector in Europe. Compared to the same period in the previous year, tonne-kilometres in Western Europe decreased by 5.5% in 4Q2010. Especially October 2010, and to a lesser extend December 2010, saw reduced freight performance by a large number of freight operators. These reductions are partially the result of extraordinary occurrences unrelated to normal rail freight activities, such as harsh weather conditions, social movements etc, show the information published by CER.
In Central and Eastern Europe, the recovery in 2010 was more pronounced
In 4Q 2010, freight operators were able to increase tonne-kilometres by 4.2% compared to the same period in the previous year. Building on the strong performance of the first half of 2010, the results for the full year 2010 in Central and Eastern Europe saw tonne-kilometres increase by 7.6% compared to 2009. This is particularly promising considering that tonne-kilometres in Eastern Europe have been declining in the 1990’s and stagnating since the year 2000.
by Elena Ilie
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