Railway infrastructure improvement towards multimodal freight (combined transport)

FACT SHEET NO.: Cat-No.3 / Subcat-No.3.3

3. Infrastructure

3.3 TEN-T Multimodal freight corridor structures

Railway infrastructure improvement towards multimodal freight (combined transport)

The Trans-European Transport Networks are a planned set of road, rail, air and water transport networks in Europe. The TEN-T networks are part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks, including a telecommunications network and a proposed energy network. The European Commission adopted the first action plans on trans-European networks in 1990.
TEN-T envisages coordinated improvements to primary roads, railways, inland waterways, airports, seaports, inland ports and traffic management systems, providing integrated and intermodal long-distance, high-speed routes. A decision to adopt TEN-T was made by the European Parliament and Council in July 1996. The EU works to promote the networks by a combination of leadership, coordination, issuance of guidelines and funding aspects of development.
The infrastructure network in the EU today is indeed fragmented, both from a geographical and a multi-modal perspective. It is also not sufficiently integrated in the international trade flows that feed the European internal market. Despite important efforts towards improvement, European rail and inland waterway networks are still lacking capacity and efficiency.
Within the framework of the promotion of the environmental friendly modes, the European Commission has launched a number of research projects aiming at evaluating technical and organisational innovations that can improve the performance of the freight transport operations in the rail sector. Creation of a European intermodal transport network is a high-priority objective of the European Community and one to which the European Commission has dedicated studies, specific legislation and very considerable funds. Freight rail improvements include strategies that make infrastructure more efficient and encourage freight to move by rail. These include:
- Freight rail relocation or infrastructure improvements
- Intermodal transportation center
- Rail crossing detection and warning
Investment in freight rail relocation/ improvements or the construction of new intermodal centers can consolidate freight movement to rail corridors while removing some long-distance truck traffic from congested corridors.

- V0, the southern freight railway link, Budapest
- Freight rail line between Antwerp in Belgium to Ruhrgebiet and Chongqing, China

-Fighting climate change
-Reduce emmissions
-Increase efficiency and safety through stimulate the mode shift from road
-Strengthening mulitmodality

Influences mode choice, by becoming rail transport smoother.

Significant improvement of energy efficiency and usage due to increased use of rail. [4]

[1] EEcorys Research & Consulting (2007): Ex ante evaluation of the TEN-T Multi Annual Programme 2007-2013, Framework Contract for Ex-ante evaluations and Impact Assessments (TREN/A1/46-2005) FINAL REPORT-2.
[2] European Commission (2011): SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying document to the WHITE PAPER Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system SEC(2011) 358 final, SEC(2011) 391 final, COM(2011) 144 final
[3] European Commission (2011): Impact Assessment, Accompanying the document PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on Union Guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network {COM(2011) 650 final},{SEC(2011) 1213 final}.
[4] European Investment Bank (2006): Evaluation of Cross-border TEN Projects
[5] European Court of Auditors (2010): Improving transport performance on trans-European rail axes, Issn 1831-0834
National
[6] Cambridge Systematics Inc (2006): National Rail Freight Infrastructure Capacity and Investment Study.