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China’s Belt and Road Initiative, announced in late 2013, includes the construction of land-based transport connections between Asia and Europe, the creation of an economic belt for Eurasian cooperation, and maritime routes between China and all continents with which it may trade. Within the European Union, it will interact with infrastructure and services provided in the private sector, by the Member States, and by the European Union including through the Trans-European Transport Network programme. This paper focuses on the scope for rail services between China and Europe to attract freight currently travelling by sea and air, and the resulting changes in relative accessibility and competitive attractiveness of different maritime and landlocked regions of Europe. It estimates that, by 2040, 3 million TEU of freight between the Far East and Europe might travel by rail, comprising 2.5 million TEU from sea and 0.5 million TEU from air. While it concludes that it is not possible to predict whether and where these transfers will require changes to the Trans-European Transport Network programme, it describes recommendations on how the programme should take the Belt and Road Initiative into account.

This paper focuses on the resilience of rail freight operations when affected by extreme weather events. Such events, most likely linked to climate change, are becoming more common and it is vital to mitigate their effects on freight transport activity. Based on a British case study of rail network disruption resulting from a key line closure in early-2016, the analysis considers the impacts on rail freight service provision and the wider supply chains. Following a review of the relevant literature, the case study is analysed using data from a combination of sources including an annual rail freight database, open access real-time train running data, observation surveys and stakeholder interviews. This reveals widespread consequences of the disruption, with fewer freight trains operated than normal, and longer and less punctual journeys for those which ran. However, despite the considerable disruption during the period of the line closure itself, there has been no discernible long-term impact on the rail freight flows which were impacted by the closure. The insight provided by the analysis is used to make a series of recommendations to the rail industry and policy makers.

The Orient/East-Med Corridor, connecting central and southeastern Europe, provides important business potential for European rail freight. However, freight transport by rail faces a number of challenges in terms of quality, cost competitiveness, service features and political/societal acceptance and support. A particular challenge is the slow implementation of a truly Single European Rail Area, leading to high costs and time losses at borders. As a response to this, so-called EU Rail Freight Corridors (RFCs) have been set up, one of them being the Orient/East-Med RFC No. 7, established in November 2013 and aiming at better cross-border coordination and cooperation in the field of infrastructure and traffic management and improved customer orientation and involvement of corridor users. Key features of the Rail Freight Corridors are strong governance structures with clearly defined tasks. Among the early positive effects are the elaboration and testing of new solutions for cross-border processes, better coordination in timetable planning and the setting up of cross-border working groups, bringing relevant actors together to address specific issues. At the same time there is room for further improvement both conceptually and in terms of the corridor geography. The establishment of two further Rail Freight Corridors in the region, the Alpine-Western Balkan RFC No. 10 and the Amber RFC No. 11 closes some remaining gaps in the network of corridors. Im Orient/East-Med Corridor, der Mittel- und Südosteuropa verbindet, steckt ein wichtiges kommerzielles Potenzial für den europäischen Schienengüterverkehr. Der Schienengüterverkehr in Europa steht jedoch vor einer Reihe von Herausforderungen in Bezug auf Qualität, Kostenwettbewerbsfähigkeit, Leistungsmerkmale sowie politische/ gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz und Unterstützung. Eine besondere Herausforderung ist die nur schleppende Umsetzung eines wirklich einheitlichen europäischen Eisenbahnraums, was zu hohen Kosten und Zeitverlusten an den Grenzen führt. Als Reaktion hierauf wurden sogenannte EU Schienengüterverkehrskorridore (Rail Freight Corridors = RFCs) geschaffen, darunter der im November 2013 eingerichtete Orient/East-Med RFC Nr. 7, der auf eine bessere grenzüberschreitende Koordination und Zusammenarbeit im Bereich Infrastruktur und Verkehrsmanagement sowie eine verbesserte Kundenorientierung und Einbindung der Nutzer der Korridore abzielt. Hauptmerkmale der Schienengüterverkehrskorridore sind effektive Verwaltungsstrukturen mit klar definierten Aufgaben. Zu den bereits feststellbaren positiven Effekten gehören die Erarbeitung und Erprobung neuer Lösungen für grenzüberschreitende Prozesse, eine bessere Koordinierung der Fahrpläne und die Einrichtung von grenzüberschreitenden Arbeitsgruppen, die relevante Akteure an einen Tisch bringen, um spezifische Probleme anzugehen. Gleichzeitig gibt es sowohl konzeptionell als auch in Bezug auf die Geographie der Korridore Raum für weitere Verbesserungen. Die Einrichtung von zwei weiteren Schienengüterverkehrskorridoren in der Region, dem Alpine-Western Balkan RFC No. 10 und dem Amber RFC No. 11, schließt einige verbleibende Lücken im Korridornetz.

Objective Previous studies have suggested an upward growth trend in low density, high value (LDHV) goods in Europe. Such goods require time sensitive, reliable services and currently, most LDHV goods are transported by road. The paper presents the findings of four case studies which detail the barriers and enablers to intermodal rail services for transporting LDHV goods. Methodology We applied a methodological pluralism, quantitative and qualitative, on an inductive basis. Using a case study approach, the research investigates the requirements of shippers, identifies key barriers to intermodal rail service offerings and, based on the findings, suggests enablers for intermodal rail freight transport. The current research applies parallel top down and bottom up streams, with a final integration synthesis. Findings Terminals may appear as an important barrier or enabler towards achieving a competitive intermodal rail service. By making rail terminal as an enabler, the research suggests that it is possible to carry LDHV goods by intermodal rail in a cost-efficient manner. The research attempts to seek a potential innovative solution to the barriers identified. The research compares road with an intermodal rail-road solution, in terms of cost and time, for a door-to-door service along the selected routes/corridors. Recommendation The research recommends that technical solutions, such as automated transhipment and temperature controlled systems, are required for rail freight services for LDHV goods, but that they must be complemented by collaborative operational solutions and viable service planning for an intermodal rail transport service to be reliable and competitive with road transport.

The article presents an investigation of current market trends and customers’ requirements, which have driven research aimed at developing a novel wagon concept that integrates innovative solutions relating to the identified major challenges for the freight vehicles of the future. These challenges are: i. Freight condition monitoring; ii. Lightweight wagon design; and iii. Predictive maintenance. This research was initiated by the INNOWAG project, which is funded by the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The major challenges in rail freight competitiveness relate to the increasing complexity and sophistication of supply chains, increasing transport capacity and logistic capability, as well as improving RAMS and lowering LCC. Therefore, the goal is to develop intelligent cargo monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions integrated on a novel concept of lightweight wagon.

Classification yards play an important role in railroad networks for operating single wagonload transportation. Here, inbound trains are disassembled, the rail cars are sorted and then assembled to form outbound trains. The efficient and resource-conserving operation of shunting yards has a profound impact on the quality and profitability of single wagonload rail freight services. Preparing production schedules for classification yards that ensure punctuality and efficiency is a challenging task that becomes even harder with the specification of customer-oriented, digital supported transportation plans for each wagon. Against this background we introduce a decision support approach that helps yard managers to find optimal schedules for the resource allocation in the yard. The main component is an optimization approach that involves time constraints and capacity restrictions as well as an objective function that represents goals depending on planning level. At the strategic level of planning, these goals are determined by the utilization of resources (e.g. engines, staff, tracks). However, during the operation, including ad-hoc disturbances, it is useful to minimize the loss of quality instead (e.g. tardiness, missing connections). Besides the mathematical formulation of the problem we discuss solution methods, introduce an optimization framework and outline computational results that show the economical potential. Furthermore, we discuss the opportunities of real-time control and outline the path towards fully automated classification yards. With this work we support the transforming process of the railway freight transport system to meet the prospective challenges in the digital era.

In the last decade freight transport has gained further momentum in Australia, partly through significant demand growth at both domestic and international levels and partly as the result of Australia's long term need for infrastructure decision making. Amongst the freight task, non-bulk freight is the fastest growing freight task in Australia and is forecast to grow much faster than the rate of population growth and the average national GDP growth. However, rail's share in the non-bulk market has declined significantly in the last four decades. This study therefore provides an insight into the efficiency and operational management issues facing by the Australian non-bulk rail sector by focusing on three areas; the level of track compatibility and the relevant operational issues, the demographics of non-bulk freight in Australia and the current status of intermodal terminals in relation to rail connectivity and location. As the result, a more detailed understanding of the current shortages in the Australian non-bulk rail freight sector is achieved and managerial implications are provided.

Rail freight has an important role to play in improving the resource efficiency and sustainability of freight transport within the supply chain. The British rail network has seen considerable growth of both freight and passenger activity in the last 20 years, leading to concerns about its capacity to absorb continued growth. A number of infrastructure initiatives focused on increasing capacity and reducing conflicts have been implemented. This includes the North Doncaster Chord, opened in June 2014 primarily to provide a more direct route from the port of Immingham to the major Aire Valley power stations (i.e. Drax, Eggborough and Ferrybridge). The paper analyses the freight impacts of the new chord, focusing on three key operational measures (i.e. train routing, scheduled journey times and train punctuality) during 10-week survey periods before and after the opening of the chord. The analysis is based on real-time data relating to coal and biomass trains operating between Immingham and the three power stations. This is a novel approach as the data have been made publicly available only recently, allowing a detailed investigation of the flows on this corridor at a highly disaggregated level. The use of this empirical method to assess the detailed rail freight operational impacts is an important element in the process of evaluating the effects of network enhancement. The results demonstrate improvements in each of the three operational measures, but also reveal a situation considerably more complex than that suggested by the published material relating to the justification for this new infrastructure.

Rail transport is a very important type of transport. Due to its environmentally friendly nature it is necessary to dedication him considerable attention. The article stated the need for the implementation of innovative solutions for wagons. This article presents precondition to increase market share of rail freight. Considerations that must be met by modern rail transport were presented in details. The main focus was on provide assumptions to implement innovative wagons and their areas of influence.

The total demand for freight transport in Europe has increased significantly in recent decades, but most of it has been handled by road transport. To fulfil the modal shift targets set in the EU White Paper 2011, it will be necessary to double rail’s market share from today’s 18 %, by 2050. Translating this into reality means rail will have to handle 3 to 4 times the cargo volume it does today. With this in mind, the paper develops a vision of an efficient rail freight system in 2050. To achieve the above objective, the research applies literature survey and group discussion methodology and applying a system approach. Keeping on board the EU Transport White Paper 2011 modal shift targets, as well as future freight demand and customer requirements, the current research attempts to answer the following three critical questions: The authors find that the service quality can be improved by better planning, application of appropriate ICT-systems and adoption of an integrated supply chain approach. A more customer-orientated service can also be achieved by further deregulation of rail. There is also an urgent need for a faster implementation of Rail Freight Corridors (RFC). As well as liner trains, future rail freight services should be offering end-point trains, with semi/ fully automated loading/unloading equipment in hub-terminals, as well as terminals at sidings to improve the availability of intermodal operation. To offer a competitive price and reliable service, a reduction in operating costs will be vital by implementing a number of measures, including operation of heavier and longer trains, wider loading gauge, higher average speed, and better utilisation of wagon space and all assets. This will bring increased capacity, as well as better timetable planning, signalling systems and infrastructure improvements.

A long-standing deficit in rail transport is the availability of status information to smoothly integrate rail transport into today's logistics processes. Developments in recent years have improved the situation e.g. on transalpine corridors. However, all in all the conditions continued to be poor for international rail freight, as on the routes between Western and South-East Europe. To close existing information gaps, the IT system “Train Monitor” has been developed as part of the FP6 project CREAM. It integrates train operation data from numerous sources, automatically calculates ETA values and includes a train data base for quality statistics and operation analyses.

CREAM was a European Union (EU) research project which aimed at improving rail freight between West and South East Europe. The project was set up first of all to shorten rail transport times on this axis and to cause a substantial modal shift towards rail. Thirty partners from 13 countries were involved in this project - including railway companies, the UIC, transport operators, research institutes and consulting companies. Within CREAM, the partners have developed organizational improvements, technological innovations and a competitive rail-based transport solutions on a very demanding corridor. The project has been coordinated by HaCon and KombiConsult.

Assessment of Rail Freight Transport Service Quality Investigations show a growth of requirements for goods transportation quality by rail. There is a need to analyse in details goods transportation system by rail to meet requirements of market and give extra boost to development transportation service quality. The purpose of the current article is to give a partial overview about the experts, freight forwarders and customers' survey results. The analysis of customers' answers showed that they are not fully satisfied with quality of the service. It was identified that freight forwarders and other transportation service providers must carry out regular self-assessment of performance against defined criteria of service. Clear and united criteria of cargo transportation quality by rail will make easier to choose transport mode, transport means and route. The survey data and literature analysis showed that there is a vast range of criteria to be proposed for rail service quality evaluation, but no one of the models is prevailing. The analysis showed that most often the mentioned criteria are linked with the information, rolling stock, reliability and punctuality.

Turkish rail market will be liberalized in the near future in order to comply with EU Directives. Before liberalization, the traditional rail operator, TCDD, needs to recognize and adequately understand the perceptions of different stakeholders and their problem identification with respect to rail freight services. This paper focuses on the perceptions of a group of stakeholders on how rail freight services can be improved, the services desired by customers and the facilities required for rail transport to provide such service. This survey has been conducted by interviewing institutional stakeholders and railway freight companies (both manufacturers and forwarders) and was completed with a focus group meeting to test proposals from the clients. Empirical data was gathered by utilizing semi-structured interviews. This paper reports the findings of the first stage of the research, where a better understanding of the perspectives of the participants and the issues that must be dealt before liberalization of rail freight market were produced. This research has been carried out with the finance of the World Bank.

Rail is being promoted to play an increasing role in reducing the external cost of freight transportation globally. This is especially the case for nations with high economic growth, such as Indonesia, which require a reliable and efficient transportation system to support global logistics. Ironically, rail freight services in Indonesia have been in decline for more than a decade due to a number of factors including the prioritization of passenger services and strong competition from the road sector. This paper aims to provide a platform for empirical research contextualizing a rail capacity framework, to be applied to the Indonesian system, with a focus on freight services. A desktop review of methodologies employed for capacity evaluation was carried out, in order to identify the most suitable approach for Indonesia. The application of these methodologies will assist in determining current capacity – utilized and unutilized – the results from which can be exercised in future strategic planning.

In a world where freight transport is increasing, efficiency is essential. Transport by rail is characterised by its low fuel consumption per tonne. This mode of transport became extremely important during the last century but unfortunately it has been losing its importance in the logistics sector with the passing of time. However, we are currently witnessing an important transformation in the railway sector throughout Europe. This has been promoted by the European Union, with a significant allocation of resources to this issue. With the objective of increasing the volume of goods transported by rail, European nations are conducting a transformation process of their infrastructure and rolling stock. In Ireland, the outlook for rail freight is not very positive since its market share has been dangerously decreasing. This paper presents an analysis of the current situation in the Republic of Ireland. The research is based on a range of secondary sources, as well as on a series of semi-structured interviews carried out by the authors with current rail freight customers. A focus group comprising rail freight experts was also used to identify possible future scenarios.

The paper examines the potential of three rail corridors: Trans-Sib, Central and TRACECA for freight transport between Central Europe and China. The paper applies a qualitative research method including a review of current literature and interviews. The research examines the technical, operational and bureaucratic conditions of the corridors. The research finds that the unreliable transit time, higher cost and damage and theft of cargo are the most pressing barriers to towards offering an efficient and integrated logistics and supply chain service along the corridors. This is due to, amongst others, problematic, multiple border-crossings and the lack of visible cooperation among the countries. The technical and operational barriers include a change of gauge, differing power supply and signalling systems and non-automated and fragmented information systems. The research also finds that the Trans-Sib is the most attractive corridor currently running and shows promise with the active contribution from the Russian government and relevant direct stakeholders such as Russian Railway (RZD). The TRACECA route is the most problematic option due to, among others, numerous border-crossings, infrastructure and rolling stock constraints and other associated problems.

The article presents a novel wagon concept that integrates innovative solutions relating to the identified major challenges for the freight vehicles of the future, namely: i. cargo condition monitoring; ii. Lightweight wagon design; and iii. Predictive maintenance. These three essential areas are addressed by three subsequent work streams of the INNOWAG project, which is funded by the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking under the EU’s H2020 programme. INNOWAG aims to respond to major rail freight competitiveness challenges regarding the increase of transport capacity, logistic capacity and improved RAMS and lower LCC, by developing an autonomous self-powered sensor system for cargo tracing and monitoring, along with a predictive maintenance approach to enable efficient use of both condition monitoring and historical data for further implementation of predictive models and tools in freight vehicle maintenance, and to integrate the aforementioned innovations on a novel concept of modular and lightweight wagon, developed through an optimised structural design using lightweight materials.

This scoping study is a first step in determining a way to examine contestability of freight flows to rail and road in Australia. It The study reviews current freight and commodity modelling practice to identifying the most effective model for further study. A four-step commodity flow approach was first identified being most suitable and a proposed model was scoped. However, lack of available data made the preferred model impractical. The relatively new spatial computable general e(SCGE) model is recommended as the most suitable alternative approach; it requires less data than the four-step commodity flow approach and performs well in technically. It is proposed to test this model for determining non-bulk freight contestability for the East Coast corridor that links Melbourne and Brisbane. This scoping study includes extracts from a proposal for a full study to beundertaken under the leadership of Professor Edward Chung.

CroBIT (Cross Border Information Technology) will deliver the IT-part to improve the European rail freight traffic. CroBIT is a 5th Framework Programme research and demonstration project under the supervision of the European Commission. CroBIT is able to connect all freight railways along any transport corridor. Participants deliver their information into the CroBIT-System. In return, the participants get added value information from others, about their wagons and consignments. CroBIT combines information about consignments, wagons and trains. Train movements are followed by each railways' internal operational systems. Each train consists of a locomotive and wagons. Wagons include consignments. CroBIT has been demonstrated in two ways: demonstration with real-world transports in Portugal and with virtual data and transports between Italy and Finland. Demonstration was completed in Spring 2005. Rail cargo operators stand to gain the most by using CroBIT. Also the policy and socio-economic impacts are positive. CroBIT will be a joint effort of pioneering railway and IT service companies that will maintain and operate the system on the basis of common agreement. The commercialisation of CroBIT, if successful, will eventually lead to a market-oriented service company "RISE" (Rail Information Service Europe). The earnings of RISE will be based on added value information services.

The objective of this paper is to examine and identify barriers to and enablers for the European rail freight transport services as a transport chain partner along the supply chains in the changing market scenario. The changing market scenario includes, among others, requiring 'door-to-door' rather than 'terminal to terminal' and integrated service, competitive ability to attract non-rail cargo type, changes in the customer requirements (e.g. reliable service) and changes in the operational requirements and practices. Using a literature review method, the paper is presented in two parts. The part 1 focuses on the identification of barriers to the European rail freight service by reviewing freight logistics services for global supply chains followed by the current performance of European rail freight transport followed by a discussion on the rail freight market liberalisation in Europe. Then rail freight transport in the Unites States (U.S.) is discussed. The research notes that although the background, scope and necessity for reform measures in Europe differ from those of the U.S., some lessons can be learned and the main lesson is that an appropriate reform measure can enhance rail sector competitive ability in Europe. The part 2 of the paper is dedicated to recommend some concrete steps and actions as enablers to remove the barriers identified in the part 1 to develop multimodal rail freight transport. The enablers for multimodal rail freight transport include: • European rail freight transport market needs full liberalisation so that incumbent and new entrants can compete freely. • The rail operators need to acquire service (e.g. customer tailored services, door to door service) quality offered by road freight operators. • They need to conduct a combination of ‘terminal-to-terminal’ and door-to-door operations, as and when needed; • They must build partnership with freight forwarder or 3PLs to include all types of customers including SMEs and customers of non-rail (low density high value) cargo. • They need to use the consolidation centres that facilitate bundling of cargoes in particular for the urban areas which are the location of majority European customers.