{"id":384400,"date":"2026-03-10T20:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=69871"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T07:46:09","slug":"cer-and-espo-asks-for-stronger-port-rail-interface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=384400","title":{"rendered":"CER, ESPO urge EU to strengthen port-rail links and boost funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) are calling on EU institutions to strengthen the interface between ports and railways.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Their key demands focus on simplified regulatory frameworks, closer cooperation between port and rail ecosystems, and adequate financing.<\/p>\n

Regulatory framework<\/h2>\n

CER and ESPO emphasised that railway operations at ports differ significantly from traditional network journeys. According to the organisations, freight trains dominate, speeds are lower, and shunting operations are frequent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, the port-rail area has different operational and infrastructural needs, which should be reflected in the legal regime applicable to the port-rail interface,\u201d the associations stated in a joint paper. They are urging EU legislators to assess whether the current regulatory framework can be simplified without compromising safety and interoperability.<\/p>\n

Improving port-rail coordination<\/h2>\n

On cooperation, CER and ESPO noted that fragmentation remains a major challenge. The main issues include \u201cfragmented planning, complex interfaces between actors, different IT systems, limited data exchange and last-mile cost challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organisations stressed that port authorities, railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, and terminal operators must strengthen their collaboration. Priorities should include standardising IT systems, improving data exchange, and aligning planning and investment strategies.<\/p>\n

Funding challenges<\/h2>\n

The joint paper also highlighted funding as a critical issue. While acknowledging existing mechanisms such as the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and TEN-T corridor implementation, the associations argue that more resources are needed. CER and ESPO propose increasing the CEF budget for 2028\u20132034 to \u20ac100 billion, up from the current allocation of just over \u20ac81 billion.<\/p>\n

The organisations are not alone in this call. The European Economic and Social Committee recently made a similar appeal. \u201cAdequate EU grants remain indispensable to address infrastructure gaps, strengthen dual-use readiness and support projects with high European added value,\u201d the CER and ESPO paper stated. Despite widespread calls from the logistics and supply chain sector, securing attention and follow-through from policymakers remains a persistent challenge.<\/p>\n

\n

European Cargo Experience<\/h2>\n

The synergies between ports, terminals and railways will be one of the focal points of the upcoming European Cargo Experience. This brand new event, organised jointly by RailFreight.com and our sister publications World Cargo News<\/a> and ProjectCargo Journal<\/a>, will take place in Gdansk on 6 and 7 May 2025.<\/p>\n

By gathering players from various sectors, the European Cargo Experience will be the perfect opportunity to have meaningful discussions about the current situation and how it can be improved. Find out more about the programme here<\/a> and register for the event here<\/a>, the Early Bird discount only lasts two more days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies and the European Sea Ports Organisation are calling on EU institutions to strengthen the interface between ports and railways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[554,19829,14363,19830,12339],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-384400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cer","category-community-of-european-railways-and-infrastructure","category-espo","category-european-sea-ports-organisation","category-ports-terminals","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=384400"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384923,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384400\/revisions\/384923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}