Innovations on rail freight market

Ten years ago, the European Union recognized the importance of stopping further development of road freight transportation and the need for making rail freight a more prominent branch of industry. Rail transportation used to hold a more relevant position, but because of slow response to changes on the market and no investments in modernization, it now occupies only around 10% of the share in freight transportation in most EU member states. Most members have initiated the implementation of the restructuring and liberalization of rail market, with the aim of establishing a multimodal transportation network and reducing negative impact of road freight on the environment. The Croatian market is no exception, of course. It has liberalized the rail freight market since the Accession to the EU, while the rail passenger traffic is still monopolized by a company owned by the state. The Croatian national carrier HŽ Cargo has decided to face the competition by restructuring the current business and giving a sharper focus on innovation (intermodal terminals, RO-LA, and digitalization of business operations). The above-mentioned topics are analysed in the following chapter.

Capabilities of a Periodic Containerised Railfreight System in Germany

Based on an analysis of the developments to date, this article originates from and then substantiates long-discussed approaches of a fast, periodic unaccompanied combined rail freight transport network for Germany that corresponds to the target modal split. A four-stage scenario of a market entry is developed. The presented solution incorporates potentially novel aspects such as a network design based on the Deutschlandtakt Cargo integrated periodic timetable framework, the prospective quantity structures as of 2030, and a segmentation for a route-specific mix of two major shipping container types. The set of assessment indicators derived by the model allows to gain insights on the achievable capacities and service levels versus the addressable freight transport demand as well as consequential cost/benefit functions.

Public transport delays threaten to derail Erdogan

Significance The change in signage is part of a broader contest between the national government and opposition mayors to deliver and claim credit for completing stalled municipal rail projects. Ankara is now rushing to complete major intercity rail and road projects, delayed by budgetary problems and the pandemic. Impacts The powers of opposition-led municipalities may be further eroded, and authority centralised in Ankara. More confrontation is likely between municipal leaders and the central government. Bureaucrats who fail to implement projects may be replaced. Confrontation is possible with the EU over the Eurasia rail freight link and the planned Istanbul Canal.

Effects of Rail Freight Corridors in Low Population Regions

Impact analysis of the construction and commissioning of a rail freight infrastructure must contemplate the regional economic system in its entirety, since that impact extends beyond the direct contribution to the increase in production, and the consequent generation of income from capital and remuneration of labor incorporated in such activity. The objective of this research is to know the effects that a rail freight infrastructure produces in a region with a low population, such as Extremadura (Spain). For this purpose, the calculation of the total impact produced by the rail freight corridor on the regional economy of Extremadura has been made, which will correspond to the sum of the direct, indirect and induced impacts. For its determination, a simulation tool has been created from Input-Output tables that allow you to compare different impact levels depending on the intensity of the investments made, or the activity developed following the launch of the new rail corridor. The research concludes with the profitability of the action because for a planned investment of 160 M€ for 3 years in the freight rail corridor from Extremadura, every euro invested returns in more than 2 euros to the Extremadura’s productive system, creating more than 4100 jobs.

The Assessment of Energy Efficiency versus Planning of Rail Freight Traffic: A Case Study on the Example of Poland

The issues addressed by the article concern the assessment of energy efficiency in rail transport, resulting from the proper organization of rail traffic. The problems related to energy consumption and, thus, the negative impact of rail transport on the natural environment are highly significant in terms of the green deal concept, climate change and sustainable development. In this article, energy efficiency is investigated in the context of minimizing the energy consumption necessary to satisfy a specific transport requirement. The essence of this article is to present an approach to energy-efficient planning of rail freight traffic. This article aims to develop a method covers the allocation of railway vehicles dedicated to freight traffic (locomotives and railcars) to perform a defined transport task, taking into account the energy efficiency assessment of the solution, routing the train launched with regard to the accomplishment of the defined transport task on the railway network, and determining the conditions of transport for a defined transport task, taking into account the allocated rolling stock (locomotives and railcars) and the route. In this article, based on the presented state of knowledge, a decision-making model has been proposed, including the model’s parameters, the values being searched for, indicators for assessing the quality of the solution, as well as the limitations and boundary conditions of the problem. The function of minimizing the energy consumption necessary to transport a shipment within the railway network (determining the energy efficiency of the proposed solution) has been proposed as the criterion. In addition, a description of the proprietary method of selecting rolling stock for accomplishing tasks, based on the assessment of the energy efficiency of the solution and a case study illustrating the operation of the method on the example of the area of Poland, has been presented.