The 5th European Intermodal Summit, hosted by the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR) on 22 January, brought together key stakeholders including CEOs, members of the European Parliament and representatives of the European Commission to discuss the future of combined transport and rail freight in Europe.
Pierpaolo Settembri, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, emphasized the importance of the EU's smart and sustainable transport strategy in guiding the update of the TEN-T framework and the regulation on the management of railway infrastructure capacity. The aim of these changes is to improve the performance of rail freight transport and the integration of intermodal transport systems.
Discussions centred on the revision of the Combined Transport Directive. European politicians, such as Flavio Tosi (MEP), pledged to push ahead with updating the legislation. The new Capacity Regulation was highlighted for its potential to alleviate cross-border bottlenecks and improve intermodal train paths.
“The Combined Transport Community of UIRR strongly supports the Capacity Regulation in the hope of securing more and better-quality train paths for freight trains and calls for the rapid conclusion of the legislative process of the Combined Transport Directive revision,” said Ralf-Charley Schultze, UIRR Director General.
Studies presented during the conference demonstrated the economic and environmental benefits of shifting long-distance freight to combined transport. If 1,000 billion tonne-kilometres were shifted to this system, the potential annual savings would be €220 billion by 2050. The Summit concluded with a call to action for the combined transport community to capitalize on the growing momentum and ensure that intermodal freight transport becomes the backbone of Europe's land freight logistics.
