Freight transport:
just in time and environmentally sound
Competition between road and rail
From the high seas across the Alps...
The "Factor 4 freight railway"
Projects & Reports
Feedback
Propositions
Goods transport continues to be politically inflammatory, and topics such as transalpine traffic and the HVF remain contentious. New solutions are required: combined transport is in difficulties today, but with greater reliability and speed it could take a significant market share.
What scope does sustainable goods transport have for action in the medium and long term, and what strategies are necessary to make this goal a reality? Take, for example, the shipping companies. What room do they, as important actors in the market, have for manoeuvre? Interviewing twelve people responsible for logistics in big firms showed that as time goes on, the "typical distributor" is becoming a rarity.B1
But all distributors showed three significant tendencies over the past few years: the globalisation of the economy, a trend towards smaller and more frequent consignments, and overcapacity in the transport industry. These have increased the pressure of competition and costs for all distributors. Increasingly, logistics decisions are made on two levels: on an upper level, locations and logistics strategies are decided upon, while the operative level makes day-to-day transport decisions within the framework of existing conditions. Environmental factors rarely play a role in logistics decisions.
The distributors' starting position is increasingly complex. They must first decide on a location, suppliers and markets, next on transport logistics, and finally on the transport service. Logistics planning and the value of the goods are the prime factors influencing the means of transport. For example, if a transport arrives one hour earlier, this is worth about CHF 1.15 per tonne transported to a distributor. If 1 per cent more of deliveries arrived punctually, most distributors would be prepared to pay almost twice as much, i.e. CHF 2.40 per tonne.B4
Discussions about sustainable goods transport centre around so-called combined transport, in which the containers are transported by train, and final distribution takes place by road. Optimised terminal planning could lead to combined goods transport taking about a million tonnes more goods and thus reducing road traffic by 2 per cent.
The potential of combined transport would be considerably higher if a heavy vehicle tax were to be introduced abroad at a similar rate to the one in Switzerland. A four to ten times increase in combined transport is predicted, which would reduce goods transport by road by 15 to 40 percent. A new goods transport model has also shown that a concept with about 10 terminals - instead of the current 18 - would be the best solution.B2
Whether small, regional enterprises or the gigantic "Embraport" at Zurich Airport, logistics centres promise high economic synergies. Abroad, attempts are being made - with varying degrees of success - to exploit such effects; Switzerland so far has no goods terminal concept. The logistics services focus on a few locations that are advantageous to traffic. Efficient collaboration between terminal operators, transporters, shipping companies, the Confederation, cantons and communes could improvethe situation - economically, ecologically and in terms of spatial planning.B9
One NRP 41 studyB7 also investigated the possible impacts of the formation of logistics regions beyond Swiss borders. It can already be predicted that, for reasons of space, large logistic platforms and freight terminals will develop outside Switzerland. Nevertheless, Switzerland should try to have a presence in the future, offering high-value services such as insurance, IT or financial advice, as these border-area logistics regions (such as the Upper Rhine Valley or Lombardy) develop. Major efforts are still necessary to optimise Switzerland's involvement in the European goods transport network and thus guarantee that the New Alpine Rail Tunnels (NART) will be exploited to the full.
In the competition between road and rail, conditions at home and abroad are of great significance. Factors that count in goods transport are price, reliability and, above all, time.B4 For example, since rapid overnight delivery is very important in many industries, the Swiss ban on night driving plays a significant role in the chances of market success for combined transport. Although it retards the increase in road goods transport and promotes the railways, this ban may also encourage lorries to divert, and drive around Switzerland. The night driving ban and the Heavy Vehicle Fee (HVF) represent important solutions for goods transport by road from a Swiss point of view, but they also require an improved joint alpine transit policy with France and Austria.
The greatest potential of combined transport lies in increasing its speed - so that, for example, goods that arrive for longdistance transport at the departure terminal at 10 p.m. could arrive at 12 o'clock the next day, and not at 6 p.m. as is now often the case. This would make combined transport able to compete with road transport. One market segment in particular is becoming increasingly significant for combined transport: the smaller consignments that do not result in a full load.
Fundamentally, the greatest modal shift potentials lie in import and export transport. A national concept could improve the coordination of terminal and transport concepts considerably.B2 But new trends within the shipping industries disadvantage the railways: greater flexibility, "lean management" and "just in time" may be fashionable phrases of modern management but they are little suited to encouraging integrated transport solutions. Regional cooperation in the transport logistics sector is still the exception, as one study using the Zug area as an example has shown.B3
The freight railway of the future will also be influenced by the development of global goods flows. These are currently processed via the port of Rotterdam in their transit across Europe. Not infrequently, containers from Rotterdam are even transported through the Alps to Italy. About 5 per cent of alpine goods transit probably stems from container transport to and from the Mediterranean and North Sea ports. But this could change: Italian ports - especially Gioia Tauro in southern Italy - have within a short time shown a massive growth in significance and reliability. This makes it possible that the goods flows, in particular those from Asia, will in future change course. The most probable scenario is that Italy would make increasing use of its own ports and less use of Rotterdam. This would lead to a small reduction in alpine transit traffic. For combined transport, the efficient opening up of the Italian ports offers great potential.B8
Many measures have been proposed to encourage combined transport. Governmental means - subsidies, taxes, improvements in infrastructure and deregulation - are not enough. In addition, the railways and logistics firms must substantially increase the quality and reliability of their service. Switzerland could reinforce her involvement abroad, for example in northern Italy. In the medium term, the pressure of competition that comes from deregulation will play a particularly decisive role. Subsidies are only a transitional solution in such a system.B4/M7/M8/M9
The aim of the goods train of the future can be formulated very simply: to double productivity and halve the environmental pollution. This gives a factor of 4. But is this "Factor 4 freight railway" really possible? One preliminary NRP 41 study investigated the innovations that can already be foreseen, such as automatic train coupling systems, optimised shunting systems, an electronic and internationally standardised train guidance system, and simplified customs procedures at national borders.B5+ As a result of such innovations, a reduction in costs of up to 50 per cent could be achieved in the medium term. Organisational measures could also lead to a doubling of capacity use. Quieter braking systems and a more rational use of energy could substantially reduce the environmental pollution produced by the railways. Technological potential can however only be realised if these innovations are introduced step by step, and as part of an optimised overall system. More competition in railway traffic could accelerate this process.
And what about the market possibilities of a "Factor 4 freight railway"? An analysis of possible strategies gives a surprising picture: investments in the "software", such as information and communication, are more important than the "hardware" (rolling stock and infrastructure).B5++ The strategy of the future railway is therefore a middle-of-the-road one: withdrawing to the central transport axes and radical modernisation are both too risky at the moment. In this middle-of-the-road strategy,the foremost need is for flexible systems, which can adapt to changing requirements. In concrete terms this could mean the extension of information systems to improve customer service, or an early international harmonisation of the technologies used. Innovations such as low-noise railway carriages, clean electricity production and reduced-emission diesel locomotives have a direct environmental impact.
And what of the policy dimension? Having concluded the Overland Transport Agreement with the EU, and following the first stage of the Railways Reform, the future lies in the direction of the rail sector. Combined goods transport counts as a goal that could find public consensus, one that permits the optimum use of the different modes of transport. The potential of efficiency and innovation often fails to be realised because of a lack of cooperation between all the actors involved. The NRP 41 concludes that institutional and legislative improvements could provide help here. Stronger government involvement in the coordination could help to solve the problem.S2
| S2 | Güterverkehr - Herausforderung und Chancen (Freight
transport; Synthesis Report) |
| B1 |
Verladerverhalten (The behaviour of shipping companies) |
| B2 |
Standort- und Transportkonzepte für den kombinierten
Ladungsverkehr (Terminal and operation concepts for combined transport) |
| B3 |
Unternehmensstrategien und Güterverkehr (Company strategies
and freight transport) |
| B4 |
Multimodale Potenziale im transalpinen Güterverkehr
(Market analysis in trans-alpine freight transport) |
| B5+ |
Zukunftsgüterbahn - Vorstudie (The freight train of
the future, preliminary study) |
| B5++ |
Zukunftsgüterbahn - Synthesebericht (The freight train
of the future; Synthesis Report) |
| B7 |
Europäischer Güterverkehr - Einbindung der Schweiz
(Integration into the European network: goods traffic) |
| B8 |
European Sea Transport and Intermodalism |
| B9 |
Plates-formes logistiques multimodales et multiservices
(Value-added network) |
| M7 |
The supply of combined transport services |
| M8 |
Modelling the transport and logistics choice
of a shipper |
| M9 |
Politikstrategien zur Förderung des Kombinierten
Verkehrs (Efficient support for combined transport) |
| T4 |
I trasporti e la mobilità (Traffic and
the Alps; Conference in Lugano 1999) |
Margrith Hanselmann"In several referenda, Swiss voters have clearly indicated that transalpine goods traffic should be shifted from road to rail. Switzerland is putting her money on free market incentives rather than compulsion. The Federal Law of 1999 on the Transfer of Transalpine Goods Traffic to the Rail stipulates that two years at the latest after starting to operate the Lötschberg tunnel, a maximum of 650,000 lorries should be crossing the Alps by road.
We can achieve this ambitious goal only if the public purse, research and the transport companies all pull together. The government has established framework conditions: the Railways Reform, which liberalised goods transport by rail; the Distance-related Heavy Vehicle Fee; and a modernised railway infrastructure, the Land Transport Agreement with the EU and its companion measures, are further cornerstones.
Research has contributed to establishing these conditions. The NRP 41 studies provided important foundations here. Thus, research has confirmed that our measures are heading in the right direction.
Now the transport firms are being challenged, since they must prove themselves in the context of liberalised railway goods transport. Railway productivity, cross-border cooperation with logistics companies, optimised capacities on the railways, and terminals that can cope with demand, are all currently hot topics. Only by providing efficient, flexible services can railway goods transport hope to win new customers. The transport companies can count on our help to achieve the goals we share.
We shall keep the efficacy of companion measures under constant scrutiny and if necessary evaluate further measures, which will rely once again on research. Research should not be satisfied with the inputs it has given us so far, but should see itself as an early warning system in the service of the government and transport companies."
Margrith Hanselmann,
Vice-Director, Head of the Planning Division, Federal Office of Transport
Greater competition and international cooperation could bring significant improvements in efficiency, particularly in the reliability and punctuality of combined and rail goods transport.
Coordinate infrastructure for combined transport
Marketable concepts for mode shifts could exploit the potential of combined transport; optimised terminal networks and operating concepts are also necessary. The Confederation should increase its coordinating activities (e.g. by designing concepts in accordance with the Federal Law on Spatial Planning).
Optimise mode shift strategies
Measures aiming to transfer goods transport to rail should continue to be evaluated and optimised in a targeted way, so that the subsidies (necessary in a transitional period) can achieve the best possible effects without discriminating against some types of goods transport.
Aim for the "Factor 4 freight railway"
The railways must make every effort to double productivity and halve environmental pollution. This requires the State and international organisations to set framework conditions. Above all, the railways themselves should develop clear strategies for making long-term investments.
Exploit the economic potential of goods transport
Current trends in logistics will provide interesting economic opportunities for Switzerland if her experience means she can foster vertically integrated logistics providers, and if good site planning enables her to generate economically feasible logistics platforms with corresponding job creation.