Enhancing Sustainable Road and Rail Interaction

Freight traffic by truck has gained increasing market share over rail with worrying environmental concerns. On the other hand railways are involved in renewal to recover freight mode share and expand transportation capacity with trends toward speed-competitive systems. However many proposed high-speed rail systems have failed to attract sufficient investments to be implemented. Studies have highlighted potential economic weakness based on the assumption that high-speed rail transportation would not cover the capital and operating costs and also provide reasonable profit for investors. Intermodal express freight services on high-speed trains might be the answer to reap significant revenue as well as provide for new business opportunities. Although there are limited examples of best practice, one of these being the TGV Postal in France; the potential exists for new approaches to intermodal operations incorporating high-speed rail lines, perhaps enough to substantially improve their feasibility. To provide a framework for decision-making, the present research will review and investigate existing and new methods of integrating express services within an intermodal context. This paper attempts to address environmental, economic and social issues with the aim to assess the viability of more sustainable road and rail interactions, with particular attention to possible future impacts.