French road-rail traffic up 18% in Q1 2024, but only because 2023 was bad

French road-rail volumes were up 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2024. Still, they benefitted from a favourable comparison with the same period last year, marked by several negative factors affecting the market, according to the combined transport association Groupement National des Transports Combinés (GNTC). In 2023, road-rail volumes, expressed in tonne/kilometres, were…

Britain in a box – the rise and rise of intermodal

On any given day, there are around seventy intermodal trains on the move in Great Britain. Rail companies, port operators and logistics companies have to battle arduous planning processes, but they are not giving up ambitious plans for new terminals, including some with automated handling equipment. It wasn’t always like this. Back in 1959, the…

How does the role of IMs change with the latest Capacity Regulation draft?

The EU Council’s latest proposal for the Capacity Management Regulation (CMR) of the Greening Freight Package is bringing significant changes to the role of the European Network of Infrastructure Managers (ENIM). First and foremost, the new draft states that “ENIM shall have no policy-making or regulatory powers”. The role of ENIM has been one of…