The governments of Germany, Austria and Switzerland said that their efforts in the context of deploying Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) “are necessary, but not sufficient”. They are asking for the creation of an EU-wide funding mechanism, financial commitment from all Member States and strong foundations from the sector. Germany, Austria and Switzerland are thus asking…
Author: Marco Raimondi
DB completes six-track-bundle upgrade in Basel
The line between Basel and Karlsruhe is one of the main bottlenecks for rail freight along the Rhine-Alpine Corridor. Now, some improvements are expected as the track expansion at the Basel-Weil am Rhein was commissioned by Deutsche Bahn (DB) on 29 April 2024. In total, a bundle of six new tracks was built parallel to…
Another French union voices concerns over discontinuation of Fret SNCF
The decision of the French government to restructure the national rail freight operator Fret SNCF to avoid European sanctions keeps sparking contrary reactions. The National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions (UNSA) recently highlighted how this initiative will have “nefarious effects” on France as a whole. The UNSA, which claims to have over 200,000 members, is…
‘Spain is light years away from reaching EU rail freight goals’
The market share of rail freight in Spain is currently at around 4 per cent. By 2030, the number should more than double and reach 10 per cent, as dictated by the European Union. However, these goals are still “light years away”, as the Spanish Ministry of Transport Oscar Puente claimed. The main issue seems…
New TEN-T: TENtec guidelines are out, timetable is still missing
One of the aims of the new TEN-T Regulation is to harmonise communication between EU Member States and European institutions. To do this, the TENtec system is being developed. When fully functional, the system is expected to speed up the exchange of information and accelerate the compiling of reports and maps of the corridors. However,…
Italian waste goes on the rail to Austria to be transformed into fuel
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, says an ancient proverb. This still seems to be applicable when it comes to Italian waste, some of which will be turned into alternative fuels in Austria. Rail Cargo Group (RCG) launched a multimodal service to transport waste from the Maddaloni-Marcianise terminal, near Naples, to Combi Cargo Terminal…
New TEN-T: These are the new guidelines for gauge migration
The new TEN-T Regulation stresses that the difference in gauges in the EU “severely hampers the interoperability of the railway networks across the Union and even impacts the competitiveness of those isolated railway networks”. The document sets out the conditions for the gauge migration in Member States with a different gauge than 1435 mm. Member…
Three years and 100 million euros for MSC’s Wärtsilä takeover in Trieste
Shipping giant MSC recently unveiled its plan to take over the disused Wärtsilä plant at the port of Trieste and convert it into a rail rolling stock production factory. The main feature is the progressive reintegration into the new site by 2027 of the roughly 280 former Wärtsilä employees, currently under a Redundancy Fund (Cassa…
New TEN-T: Regulation puts military mobility in the spotlight
The European Parliament recently approved the revision of the TEN-T Regulation. The new document presents a few takeaways, but one of the biggest changes is a brighter spotlight on military mobility and security across the Old Continent. For example, additional railways and roads were included in the new TEN-T map “to enhance the synergies between…
‘eFTI deployment will speed up multimodal services across borders’
The deployment of electronic freight transport information (eFTI), is one of the pillars of the EU’s attempt to decarbonise the freight industry. The policy aims at digitalising freight transport documents, most of which are still currently circulating in a physical form. RailFreight.com had a chat with Eva Killar, Head of Mobility Development and Investments Department…