Category: UIRR

‘A fairer rail freight market means fewer state-owned companies’

“There is no reason for the member states to act indirectly as market participants via state-owned, integrated companies”. This was stated in a joint paper by UIRR, ERFA, Die Güterbahnen and RailGood, which set out what they think are the most important measures for rail freight transport in Europe between 2024 and 2029. According to…

Ten rail associations ask the EU Commission to postpone TSI revision

The European Commission (EC) is planning another extensive revision of the package of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) in 2026/2027. However, ten European rail associations came together to ask the EC to rethink its plan and wait for an extensive TSI revision until 2030. One of the main reasons for this request is that…

Combined transport in Europe in 2023 down by 10%

Combined transport in Europe in 2023 dropped by 10.57 per cent the number of consignments transported and by 9.39 per cent in the tonne-kilometre performance. This means that these volumes are roughly back at pre-COVID 19 levels after four years of moderate growth between 2019 and 2022. UIRR said this downward trend was caused by…

‘EU’s combined transport definition should be more practical,’ says UIRR

In view of the Combined Transport Directive (CTD) amendment, the EU Commission proposed an alternative definition of combined transport services. In the legislators’ view, combined transport operations should include intermodal freight operations that carry out at least 40 per cent of transport without using trucks. For UIRR and the intermodal sector, the definition could be […]

Combined transport sector records five consecutive quarters of losses

Combined transport’s performance has been a tale of “a concurrent series of crises,” says industry association UIRR. The sector experienced losses for a fifth consecutive business quarter. Performance during Q4 2023 shrank by 11,1 per cent compared to the same period in 2022. At the same time, the business sentiment among professionals remained ‘slightly negative’, […]

EU sets frail foundations for intermodal transport’s future

The European Commission’s proposal to amend the Weights and Dimensions Directive (WDD) concerning commercial road vehicles presents some problematic points. The railway sector is concerned that the proposal will result in a reverse modal shift from road to rail while also making road and rail transport incompatible in many cases, thus substantially harming intermodal and […]