“More Europe” needed
Bettina Castillo on the ‘patchwork’ in the rail transport network. The board member of Austria’s Rail Cargo Group criticises the lack of coordination and infrastructural shortcomings in pan-European international rail transport. Her goal – trains should travel through Europe as seamlessly as lorries.
What is the current state of the railway transport segment in the logistics sector? On the website of Switzerland’s ‘Bahn25’ rail congress Bettina Castillo, a board member of Austria’s Rail Cargo Group RCG, discusses some of the challenges and solutions for rail transport.
Where do you see a need for action to ensure that trains can cross borders without obstacles?
The current ‘patchwork’ evolved historically and is particularly evident in cross-border rail transport operations.
The consequences include uncoordinated construction sites, infrastructure bottlenecks at border crossings and restrictions such as speed limits, weight constraints, and train length – not to mention language barriers and differing working time regulations. Additionally, poor infrastructure conditions often pose a serious problem.
One current example is Germany, where ongoing construction work is causing significant detours and extra costs. These additional costs aren’t covered by customers in the market. Another obstacle lies in the ETCS train control system, which infrastructure operators are currently introducing at different times.
RCG wants to increase its share of rail transport. What is your target and what strategy will help achieve it?
Three factors are crucial to increase the railway sector’s overall market share. Railway operators have to do their part to become faster, more modern, and more customer-focused. We’re achieving this by making our production network more resilient and investing in digitalisation.
In addition to fair competition conditions and cost parity between the rail sector and road transport, we need coordinated and efficient infrastructure in all of Europe. Running a train through Europe should be as simple as driving a lorry across borders. For this, we need “more Europe” and less national regulation.
There aren’t many women in leadership positions in logistics firms. Do you consider this to be a problem?
Any company that has a high degree of diversity in leadership positions opens itself up new perspectives and enriches its overall corporate culture, making it more dynamic, creative and innovative. This isn’t only a social responsibility but has also been shown to represent a competitive advantage for the entire industry.