European Freight Transport Assessment - Term Paper Example

European Freight Transport Assessment Executive Summary: This report is prepared as a recommendation to the European Commission for increasing the usage of rail for freight and its sustainable development. In the European countries rails transport has been in use for transporting goods for many years. However, for the last few years this sector has been criticized by many as a result of the drawbacks of rail freight system over any other forms of transportation. This issue has been addressed in many meetings and conferences of government and non governmental agencies and many steps have been recommended for further improving the system in the country and thereby boo the economy of the country. At this juncture, the present report addresses the advantages and disadvantages of rail transport system with emphasis on environmental impact. The report seeks to take steps to further improve the sector as a memorandum to the policy makers. The report suggests certain recommendations on the basis of which the system is plead for increased usage and sustainable development. Introduction: The organization and operation of the European freight transport system are subjected to several defaults in terms of lack of efficiency and integration. Rapid growth of freight transport in the EU leads to problems such as consequential blockings, accidents, noise, pollution etc. These create economic, social and environmental problems which need to be addressed. Existing freight transport system is the region is not operating under effective planning and management. Uni-modal and multimodal transport chains in the freight transport system are not sufficiently developed in the region. Increasing freight transport needs in the region necessitates better improvement in the freight transport system for maintaining and increasing the European competitiveness in trade and investment. In the current conditions, the increased use of rail for the transport of goods as a method for improving the sustainability of freight transport have to considered with detailed analysis of its advantages and disadvantages. “Recent studies about European rail freight transport addressed efficiency, productivity, and benchmarking (e.g., Hilmola 2006, Wiegmans and Donders 2007), and intermodal opportunities (e.g., Tsamboulas et al. 2006). Our study includes perceptions of different stakeholders on European rail freight transport services and also the challenges faced by new operators. These services include not only transporting goods from point A to B by employing shuttle trains, mixed and unit trains (Wiegmans and Donders 2007), but also the handling and storage of rail freight and various value-added distribution services (Hesse 2006).” (Paul et al. 2007). The integration of railway based freight transport systems is not successfully carried on as that of passenger rail networks and other systems such as airline, motor carriage or inland waterway systems. The possibilities of rail freight transport system to overcome the environmental and congestion problems caused by the disproportionate use of motor carriage in the EU are analyzed in this study. a) Advantages and disadvantages that rail offers as compared to other modes of freight transport. Specific reference should be made to the environmental impact of rail transport relative to other modes: Rail Freight Transport System Among the various freight transport system, Rail Transport occupies a prominent position as it has some superiorities over other forms of transport. The rail freight transport system has grown tremendously over the last few years in Europe. Globalization and its resultant opening up of economies and integration of European Union have been the major driving forces for this growth. However, since the liberalization of transportation in European Union, the success of freight transportation is not as equal as that of any other forms of transportation. It is said to have many environmental hazards and as such, the authorities and policy makers have been on the look out for new initiatives in the field of rail transport. A research study undertaken recently in the country remarks that “rail transport has negative effects: congestion, accidents, noise, Pollution, increased reliance on imported fossil fuels, and energy loss. Infrastructure resources are limited and any disruption in the supply chain has a negative impact on the EU economy. The question is: how can we address these issues, without endangering Europe’s competitiveness?” (Introductory Remarks. 2007, p.2). The paper also demonstrates that “Rail freight could play a major role in this process of optimizing logistics in Europe. Let me give you one example of the challenge that we are facing; Maritime container traffic grows rapidly and will continue to grow very dynamically. It tripled in 20 years. A huge mass of containers is approaching European ports and their hinterland transport routes. It is unthinkable that all the transport volumes will be transported on the road alone. Rail will have to absorb a great share of the traffic.” (Introductory Remarks. 2007, p.3). Advantages: Rail transport requires only less cost than road transport in environmental terms. It provides a competitive advantage to the rail transport system than others. In case of road transport, lack of advanced logistics planning results in poor performance with environmental problems which affect the citizens and industry badly. In case of transportation of large volumes of freight over long distances rail freight seems to be effective than the road transport. In the member countries of the EU, rail transport plays an important role in the delivery of freight between different locations and it offers an economical means of transport to the investors and traders in the region. (Rail Transport Europe. 2003). The over-dependence on trucking for freight transport creates congestion and environmental problems. It has become even more critical with the addition of more Eastern members in the Union. The rail freight transport requires lower cost when compared to other modes of freight transport. The congestion problems should not exist in a well established rail transport system and the cost and effort requirements for transport of larger volumes of freight is comparatively lower in rail freight transport. The effective removal of political and economic boarders between the member countries in the EU provides opportunity for improving the rail freight transport. Disadvantages: Major drawbacks relating to rail transport are descried below: In case of rail transport, the freight transport has to share the infrastructure with the passenger traffic. Lack of customer orientation and interoperability in the transport system affects the efficiency and performance of the rail transport. The rail carriers from member nations of the Union and those of neighbouring European countries, lacks the ability to easily dispose the movement of goods outside their own countries. Nationalized railroads system in the Union restricts the investment from private funds. Development of the rail system is not properly ensured by the authorities and due to this the performance of rail freight transport is comparatively lower than other transport models. Freight trains require complex patchwork of conflicting standards and ancillaries such as rolling stock, locomotives, signaling, and information systems. All of these factors slow down the cross border movement of freight. European rail systems are mostly dependent on passenger traffic for revenue, and the freight transport is considered as secondary business. Due to the intervention of government in the rail transport system, most of the railway companies are showing a perceptible unresponsiveness to the commercial pressures of their freight customers. (Janjaap 2001). Another major threat of the rail freight system in the country is the Inland water transportation, which is a significant competitive alternative to rail in Europe, especially when the goods to be moved are packed in sea containers. It is estimated that “for the movement of maritime containers to and from overseas destinations, the inland shipping mode accounts for approximately four times the volume carried by rail. Inland shipping is expected to maintain or increase its market share, at the expense of both rail and truck traffic (Rutten 1995).” (Lewis et al. 2001). Globalization increases transportation of freight between countries and thus transshipment facilities are affected by congestion. The possibility to construct new infrastructure are limited. The growing demand of freight transport and the longer distances covered in the single. European market necessitates adoption of rail transport as a major way. Revitalization process carried out in the rail freight transport will improve the efficiency and performance of the system in the European freight transport. Open competition in rail freight and development of Infrastructure facilities will be helpful for organizing the sector as an important medium for freight transport. The Present situation of rail freight in the European Union After many years of set back, freight rail system in the country became to spurt in the year 2003. The country has improved the quality of service of rails freight system over the years and it is the main reason for the sudden growth of the country’s system. However, railway undertaking in the country and in particular rail freight transport system face a number of challenges, which include: Huge Debt burden from bad investments, which will not produce any income for the country. An organisation of rail transport along national lines. This feature hampered the development of international rail transport over longer distances, continental distances, which is a strongly growing market segment where rail has relative advantages over other modes; An internal organisation and management culture that is not sufficiently adapted to meet the expectations of todays transport markets. These issues must be addressed before the policy makers and the government should take initiatives to boss the sector and come up to the expectation of the users. In an investigation, the unique challenges faced by European railroads have been summed as below: Differing levels of rail infrastructure development in Europe, which cause numerous bottlenecks in the system. Major bottlenecks exist in areas such as Milan, Vienna, the Brenner Pass, Munich, and Rotterdam. Different transport policies in various countries concerning the role of each mode, subsidies, the visibility of costs, and the degree of privatization. Different rates of progress have been achieved in the transformation of national rail systems from bureaucratic organizations to for-profit business undertakings (Hoser 1999). (Janjaap 2001). Addressing the main challenges, the report suggests the following measures for making the rail transport system more attractive and operational. Our future policy will evolve along 4 main lines of action. “Market opening and fair competition are powerful tools to promote business-oriented modes and better performance. The 1st railway package of 2001 and other successive legislation packages led to the full opening of the rail freight market on the 1st January 2007.” (The Main Policy Strands of the European Commission to Render Rail Freight More Attractive. 2007, p.5). It is suggested that the Rail safety authorities of the country must issue safety certificates so that safety measures can be planned in advance and the workers will be in a position to effectively carry out their operations without the fear of accidents and hazards. “Rail regulatory bodies have a central role in ensuring non-discriminatory market access and fostering competition. Member States have to endow them with the necessary resources, independent decision making powers and expertise. They need to become credible actors on the railway market.” (The Main Policy Strands of the European Commission to Render Rail Freight More Attractive. 2007, p.5). As a remedy to the above challenges, the EU Transport Ministries have agreed upon a package of measures “allow any licensed independent operator to operate services over designated trans-European routes, for both domestic and international traffic (Barnard 1999). Additionally, common standards for information technology, signaling, rolling stock, and other aspects of railroad operations would have to be established across the EU.” (Lewis et al. 2001). Recommendations: Transportation of goods between member countries becomes intensified in the EU region through the globalization process. Increasing trade between countries necessitates better ways of conveying freights. Nowadays, freight transport is essential to maintain economic growth and competitiveness of the European region. New methods and technologies have to be developed for meeting the growing demand for goods transport in the region. The authorities should take necessary steps to develop the conditions in rail and inland waterways for stimulating the growth of freight transport through this ways. The performance of the railway freight transport is not standardized. Everyone is affected by these issues. Building of land based infrastructure for the railway creates environmental problems. It needs careful land use planning. The transport system should be used in the best possible way in order to ensure the competitiveness and prosperity in trade in the European region. Better freight transport system is necessary for avoiding the relocation of jobs outside the EU. Through developing the railway infrastructure for supporting efficient freight transport, it will be able to attract new private investments and create new jobs. The development of rail freight is a major challenge for the freight transport sector in the EU region. An efficient and sustainable freight transport system can be established with the development of railway infrastructure in the region and its better co-ordination. In the EU level, actions for promoting the construction of an integrated and competitive European railway area has to be followed for empowering the rail freight transport. The existing trend in the growth of freight transport over long distances necessitates promoting the development of a European freight-orientated rail network. For this, a series of financial and legislative measures should be followed by the authorities. (Commission of the European Communities. 2006). Development of high quality train paths should help to improve the performance of the system in freight transport services. It also will improve the co-ordination between member states. Adequate priority will be given to freight traffic in the railway system, for ensuring its better performance. Ancillary services should be provided with adequate quality in services and transparency. Effective restructuring of the railway undertakings and greater opening-up of rail freight to competition along with greater innovation in the sector will produce efficient rail freight transport system. (Towards a Rail Network Giving Priority to Freight). The EU economy is occupying greater opportunity for growth in coming years. Through this the region can strengthen its global position in trade and investment. It should create better economy in the region with better labour market opportunities and better standard of living of Europeans in general. But to handle the increase in volume of trade and investment it should overcome the challenges affecting the flows of goods in an efficient and sustainable manner. Bibliography Commission of the European Communities. (2006). 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