Adapt all trailers for rail transport
In Lisbon (Portugal) yesterday, 29 March, the EU’s transport ministers held a joint conference to officially kick off the European "Year of Rail".
For 2021, the Netzwerk Europäischer Eisenbahnen (network of European railways, NEE) calls to immediately address railfreight’s well-known core problem and to make the craneability of new truck trailers mandatory by law. In addition, a funding programme for the refurbishment of existing trailers must be set up to accelerate the shift of freight traffic to the railways.
In the EU, 95% of the semi trailers are constructed in such a way that they can be transported on the train, but cannot be loaded or unloaded without the traction unit, for lack of stability. According to NEE, not enough money is invested into the building of new trailers so that trucks still have to drive thousands of kilometres on European motorways while they could be carried for long distances on the railways. (ben)