TransportNET Research Seminars on Railway Policy

TransportNET organises regular seminars on railway policy with international speakers. They are held alternatingly at LAET from University of Lyon and at KIT. This page provides information and material on the seminars that took place at KIT.

4th Railway Seminar:

Rail Freight: the Thwarted Ambitions of EU, KIT Karlsruhe, 11 March 2016

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The objectives of the European Union for rail freight are clearly expressed in successive White Papers, particularly the one published in 2011. Objective 3 states: “30% of road freight over 300 km should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2030, and more than 50% by 2050” (European Commission, White Paper, 2011). This expected modal shift, mainly in favor of rail transport, reflects a desire to reverse past trends, in which road transport has become very dominant. In order for this ambition to amount to more than wishful thinking, the EU has sought to develop intra-modal competition to revitalize this sector.

However, in light of the unrelenting strong intermodal competition, mainly from road transport, one cannot help but question the European Union’s objectives. To what extent will rail freight transport be able to expand its relevance? This, alongside other topics are discussed in the seminar with the aim of vetting the future of rail freight in Europe.

  • "The structure of freight flows in Europe and its implications for EU railway freight policy", Prof. Kay Mitusch, KIT
  • "Which regulation for which railway market structure in Europe? The Belgium case study", Florent Laroche, University of Antwerp
  • "Outlook and challenges for the German rail freight market", Thorsten Dieter, DB Schenker Germany
  • "Outlook and challenges for the French rail freight market", M. Gregoire Marlot, SNCF, Head of strategy
  • "Opportunities and challenges for rail freight: what can be the future added value? - A case study of Belgium", Frank Troch, University of Antwerp
  • "Is rail freight facing a structural decline both from supply and demand sides?", Prof. Yves Crozet, LAET, Université de Lyon
  • "The perspective of a French competitor in Germany", M. Marcel de LaHaye, Captrain Deutschland (subsidiary of SNCF)
  • "The perspective of an international competitor", Michail Stahlhut, SBB Deutschland
  • "Expectations of shippers on the developments of rail freight", Mr. Denis Choumert, Chairman of the European Association of Shippers

 

The seminar is organized by Prof. Kay Mitusch (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, KIT) and Prof. Yves Crozet (Université de Lyon) and Prof Thierry Vanelslander (University of Antwerp).

 

Selected presentations can be downloaded here (password protected)

2nd Railway Seminar:

The political economy of the Rotterdam-Genova rail freight corridor, KIT Karlsruhe, 12 July 2012

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The “Rail Freight Corridor #1” connects the North Sea ports Rotterdam and Antwerp to the German and Swiss industrial centers along the river Rhine, then with the North-Western Italian industrial centers and finally the port of Genova. Several other important freight lines feed on it (like Hamburg-Rhine/Ruhr) or are affected by it (like parallel routes in the East or West). When it comes to investments, standards, access charges and access conditions to the corridor, five countries have to come to an accord preferably for the whole corridor. The aim of this seminar is to address the main issues of transport policies for the rail freight corridor #1.


The seminar is organized by Prof. Kay Mitusch (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, KIT) and Prof. Yves Crozet (Université de Lyon). It is the second of a series of TransportNet seminars on railway policies. 

 

  • "The Swiss transport policies and the NEAT project (Gothard and Loetschberg basis tunnels)", Prof. Panos Tzieropoulos, EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
  • "Investments, congestion, noise, and other policy issues of the German part of the Rotterdam-Genova corridor", Prof. Jürgen Siegmann, TU Berlin
  • "Bottlenecks in the Italian part of the Rotterdam-Genova corridor and the chances of Italian ports to substitute corridor freight", Marco Antognoli, Sapienza Università di Roma
  • "Socioeconomic advantages of FERRMED Standards implementation in the Rotterdam-Genova Corridor", Joan Amoros, FERRMED Secretary General
  • "Large transport infrastructure project and European transport policy: the case of the Betuwe Route", Dr. Laurent Guihery, Florent Laroche, LET - Université Lumière Lyon 2
  • "The future prospects of Rail Freight Corridor #2 (Rotterdam – Antwerp – Luxembourg – Basel/Lyon)", Paul Mazataud, Managing Director EEIG Corridor C/2
  • "The future prospects of Rail Freight Corridor #3 (including Hamburg – Brenner – Verona) and its relationship to Corridor #1", Prof. Sebastian Kummer, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Institut für Transportwirtschaft und Logistik