Environment & climate

Seven leading companies and associations in the rail freight sector – Hupac, Kombiverkehr, TX Logistik, ERFA, UIRR, SGKV and Fermerci – have sent an open letter to Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder and DB CEO Evelyn Palla on 29 October 2025.

Under the motto “Save Combined Transport”, the signatories warn of an increasing shift of freight traffic from rail back to road.

This shift has already begun and is well documented. Its cause lies in the insufficient performance of the rail infrastructure. Over the coming years, we expect – as a result of the planned corridor renovations in Germany that largely disregard industrial supply requirements – hundreds of thousands of additional truck journeys.

On the major Alpine corridors through Austria and Switzerland alone, this would mean around 500,000 extra trucks on the roads, with corresponding increases in emissions, congestion and accident risk.

Without immediate countermeasures, Europe risks losing transport capacity, competitiveness and climate progress. We therefore call for:

• A freeze on track access charges for 2026
• A capacity guarantee of at least 90% during corridor renovations
• Upgrading of suitable diversion routes
• Train path allocation according to market needs
• Compensation for operational restrictions on inferior routes
• Suspension of cancellation fees

Check the Open Letter in the Download section.