Towards a free market for rail transport, the initiative of Trans-European Rail-Freight Freeways (TERFF) is a significant step. TERFF consist of fast rail links for freight transport, with free access for all licensed railway companies in the member states of the European Union (EU). All spare capacity on the rail network of various countries has been gathered at the One Stop Shop (OSS). Weaknesses of the TERFF concept are the use of overcapacity and the charging by national companies, for the use of infrastructure. At this stage, the OSS is just an intermediate who is authorised to sell the TERFF to customers. Ideally, the OSS itself should determine costs, allocation and quality of TERFF. Meanwhile, some routes have been established, and a rough comparison on price and transit times, between freight transport by road and rail on the North-South Freeway suggests that the competitive position of freight train with a high occupancy rate is strong. (A)
Samenvatting