Key issues for Pan-European rail freight services

The objective of the RETRACK project, funded by the European Commission, is to conduct research to develop, demonstrate and implement a sustainable rail freight service along the East-West corridor (see fig. 1 ) from Constantza to Rotterdam crossing over the five national railway networks and four border crossing points. The authors have conducted state-of-the-art literature review and field surveys for this project. The current research reports the state-of-the-art of rail freight services along the RETRACK corridor in the areas of transhipment technology and systems, information and communication systems, safety and security of cargo, rolling stock and locomotives, human resources, legislative and regulatory status, and command and control systems. The research finds that all of national networks vary in terms of capabilities, competence and capacities in these areas and that the demonstration of a commercial rail freight service on the corridor will be feasible, competitive, and environmental friendly and will help achieving the long-aspired European Commission’s (EC) transport policy of modal shift.