EUROPE'S RAILWAYS HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE IN FREIGHT

Rail freight in Europe has a positive future, but needs mutual cooperation between European railways to achieve its maximum competitive advantage. The total volume of European freight traffic is expected to double by 2015; it will need to be met by using all transport modes and finding the most environment-friendly and resource-efficient solutions. As a freight mode, rail has the advantages of low land usage for infrastructure, energy-efficiency, low environmental impact, safety, and suitability for large flows over longer distances. Although rail now has a 15% share of European freight traffic, this share could fall to 5% by 2005 if current trends continue; this anti-rail trend is especially strong in Eastern Europe. Rail freight has previously suffered from poor train paths, reliability, and punctuality, high prices, and inflexibility. European railways have made enormous efforts to raise productivity and attract more traffic, but they need to avoid increasing their losses as their freight volume rises. A large part of road freight traffic, especially for short journeys in urban areas, is unsuitable for transfer to rail. Regular scheduled bulk freight is the most likely form to succeed by rail. European Union (EU) Directive 91/440 has driven many initiatives now being pursued to increase rail freight in Europe.