The Dutch rail freight committee has presented a letter of appeal to government negotiators. In the letter, the committee requests the next government to take concrete steps for the betterment of Dutch rail freight. A level playing field, environmental challenges and decarbonisation feature as major points of attention in the appeal.
The Dutch rail freight committee is an advisory body installed by the state secretary of infrastructure. As part of the body, rail operators, terminals, ports, production and trade companies and the Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail consult with the ministry about the future of Dutch rail freight. The committee has now handed over a letter to the ministry against the background of negotiations for a new government following the November 2023 elections.
Even though European-level policy has set a goal of a fifty per cent market share growth for rail freight by 2030 and a doubling by 2050, the committee emphasises that Dutch rail freight still plays a “relatively modest role” in freight transportation. With the widely expected growth of freight volumes in the coming years, the advisory body makes an appeal to the government with various policy suggestions to increase the share of rail in freight transportation.
“Level playing field”
The committee points out that rail freight is not competitive in the Netherlands. In order to attract more customers, the Netherlands ought to create a “level playing field” and the incoming government should create the preconditions to make that possible, write the rail advocates.
In particular, the government should work on overdue maintenance and modernisation of rail infrastructure. Moreover, track access, shunting and parking charges should be adjusted to match the charges in neighbouring countries and the costs incurred by other transport modalities. The committee also calls for infrastructure upgrades to facilitate 740-metre trains and support for the implementation of ERTMS. The latter has been a chaotic process, threatening to burden the sector with hundreds of millions of euros in additional costs.
Environment and sustainability
In order to reach zero emissions for the Dutch rail freight sector, the government should electrify the remaining parts of the rail network, the committee writes in the letter. On these sections, ERTMS should also be installed in favour of the obsolete ATBNG system. The new government can further contribute to decarbonisation by increasing the capacity of port shunting stations, subsidising old diesel locomotives and reducing the barriers for the introduction of hybrid locomotives. Lastly, the committee calls upon the ministry to develop a “coherent vision” on spatial planning, especially in light of noise pollution and transportation of dangerous goods.
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