Every shipment shifted to the railways reduces the use of energy and contributes to climate protection. This is the result of a study by the UIRR on the CO2 reduction of combined transport on selected routes in Europe based on actual operating data. Unaccompanied combined transport saves on average 29% of energy on the railway compared to the road, whilst the Rolling Highway saves around 11%. On the transalpine routes in UCT the savings are far higher. The CT chain between Cologne and Milan via Busto Arsizio, i.e. the transportation of a road consignment on the railway including road trucking from/to the terminal, uses 46% less energy than pure road transport for example.
According to the UIRR study, the balance for the saving of the greenhouse gas CO2 is even more positive. Unaccompanied combined transport reduces CO2 emissions by an average of 55% compared to road transport, whilst CT chains with the Rolling Highway yield a reduction of around 18%. Here too, the effects in transalpine transport through Switzerland are particularly favourable. For example, transport companies using the Hupac Cologne <=> Busto shuttle spare the environment about 1,000 kg of climate-damaging carbon dioxide per road consignment, which is 67% less than in pure road transport.
The savings result most of all from the energy mix used, i.e. the country-specific type of power generation (hydroelectric power, nuclear, fossil fuels). Combined transport through Switzerland has particularly low carbon dioxide emissions because of the high proportion of hydroelectric power in railway power generation (100%). Another crucial factor is energy use, which is determined mainly by the ratio of the cargo to the total weight: long, heavy, well-utilised trains make particularly efficient use of the energy deployed. Other factors that have a positive impact are low gradients on the route, central terminal locations and little need for shunting.
CO2 emissions and energy consumption of the combined transport chain in comparison to road transport
Benchmark road: 100%
