Rail Must Focus on Road Competition

The author presents the views of Ed Burkhardt, chief executive officer of Rail World, on what is needed for European rail freight to recover its position. Burkhardt believes that a more pragmatic approach should be taken by rail operators, infrastructure managers, and governments if recovery is to take place, since rail's share of the European freight transportation market is still declining despite rising volumes. To Burkhardt, competition is with road transportation, rather than between rail operators, meaning that the European Union's rail freight liberalization was a mistake because it made rail companies compete with one another. Burkhardt's views were aired recently at Terrapinn's CEE Rail conference in Budapest, and included wagonload freight, infrastructure access fees, infrastructure managers, and new technologies.