GREEN DEAL: GREENING FREIGHT FOR MORE ECONOMIC GAIN WITH LESS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Commission is today proposing measures to make freight transport more efficient and more sustainable, by improving rail infrastructure management, offering stronger incentives for low-emission lorries, and better information on freight transport greenhouse gas emissions. The aim is to increase efficiency within the sector, helping it to contribute to the target of cutting transport emissions by 90% by 2050, as set out in the European Green Deal, while allowing the EU single market to continue growing.
More efficient use of rail capacity
Rail tracks are expensive to build and, in the EU, increasingly congested. The proposed Regulation will optimise their use, improve cross-border coordination, increase punctuality and reliability, and ultimately attract more freight companies to rail. Passengers will benefit from additional rail services as the capacity of the network will be better used, impacting positively the cross-border services by enabling more frequent connections and earlier ticket booking, among others.
Current rules on capacity management are decided annually, nationally and manually. This does not favour cross-border traffic (around 50% of rail freight crosses borders); the fractured approach leads to delays at borders. This, in turn, hinders the functioning of the Single Market. Delays due to congestion caused by uncoordinated maintenance work are also common.
Today's proposal for a regulation on the use of railway infrastructure capacity in the single European railway area builds on the industry-led Timetable Redesign Project. The aim is to better respond to the different needs of the rail sector: stable timetables and early booking of tickets for passenger services, and flexible train runs adapted to just-in-time supply chains for freight shippers.
