One of the methods for increasing the attractiveness of rail freight transport is reducing the volume of necessary documents. The manual information system is flawed, slows down the process of booking transport tickets and increases costs. The entire railway system needs electronic support in all these operations.
During December 2012 – January 2013, DG MOVE has circulated a questionnaire aimed to evaluate the progress with the e-Freight project. The European Commission wishes to improve the economic competitiveness of Europe paying special attention to the transport sector. The data of the analysis launched by DG MOVE are not yet public, but a complete report will most probably be published soon.
E-Freight Integrated Programme, European e-Freight Integrated capabilities for co-modal transport Project – EFIP, began in 2010 and ends in 2014. The project involves 30 partners from 14 EU member states, plus Norway, in a platform-programme aimed to prove and validate the capabilities and the innovations brought by the informatisation of the bureaucratic elements of cargo transportation.
The informatisation of transport, especially of freight transport, can only bring added value from the economic point of view. The electronic applications for the simplification of railway freight transit procedures, e-freight, are considered by the White Paper on Transport of 2011, as key initiatives in the establishment of the Single European Railway Area.
The effectiveness of railway freight transport is an ambitious and complex project of the European Union. Despite its well-known advantages, especially for heavy and massive goods, railway transport is burdened by elements related both to technical and legislative aspects. These are the barriers that need to be removed in order to create an interoperable network throughout the entire Europe, but also on the corridors providing links to Asia.
In general, railway operators continue to be too little oriented to the needs and expectations of their customers which become stricter every day and which mainly refer to the reliability and cost of transport, to available capacities and to the management of information, transport times and flexibility. Consequently, railway transport is today confronted with a series of difficulties which partially explain its incapacity to increase its market share.
The quality of services remains the weak point of railway freight transport and its customers demand a higher commitment and transparency in the area. The Commission considers that the ser-vices provided along the European railway network and dedicated to freight transport have to be the best from the point of view of quality which, once improved, should have a positive impact on railway freight transport as a whole.
The quality gained on freight transport oriented corridors could become an example for this sector in Europe.
Currently, certain sections are saturated, especially on some central areas of the Union, along the main freight transport axes. The different rail traffic forecast studies in Europe indicate the fact that, around 2020, it is possible to experience additional and very problematic bottlenecks. In case it is insufficiently dealt with, this phenomenon could be accentuated by the intensification of traffic along the freight-dedicated corridors. On the other hand, the competitiveness of freight transport could increase due to the higher volumes of freight that each train can carry. This means an improved infrastructure capacity especially in terms of train length, load, axle load and maximum speed. These elements prove the necessity of coordinated and oriented investments in freight-dedicated corridors so that traffic will be as fluid as possible and railway transport as competitive as possible.
The European Commission has requested the corridor structures to elaborate a plan dedicated to eliminating bottlenecks and to the harmonisation and increase of the infrastructure capacity, especially as regards the length and maximum load of trains.
Slowing down traffic at bottlenecks (generally close to urban agglomerations), cross-border traffic, where a lot of time is spent with administrative or technical obligations, as well as the deadlines for accessing railway services (terminals, switchyards) are still three of the major difficulties met in international rail freight transport. These difficulties severely affect the average speed and they can be considered the same hindrances which limit the capacity and the reliability of freight transport by affecting the infrastructure.
The broader use of electronic applications, e-freight, as well as the ERTMS, would significantly facilitate cross-border freight traffic and would also increase the market share of rail freight transport. Also, speeding up the development of the ten freight-dedicated corridors set through Regulation 913/2010 would lead to an improved uniformisation of railway freight traffic and to an increased market share of this type of traffic which could even outrun its rival, road traffic.
The information technology permits simpler and more reliable transfers. The transport users will pay for the total cost of transport, while benefiting from less congestion, more information, quality services and improved safety in the long-distance freight transport.
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