The future of intermodal: confidence and reliability

At the centre of the debate was the question of how confidence in combined transport can be strengthened and sustainably regained among customers. It became clear that construction works and capacity bottlenecks will be unavoidable in the coming years. For customers, this means having to deal with increasing irregularities and restrictions.

This makes it all the more important for the sector to provide reliable solutions despite these challenging conditions and to attract and retain customers in combined transport over the long term throughout the upcoming transformation phase.

“Combined transport is at a decisive juncture,” emphasised Hupac Chairman of the Board Hans-Jörg Bertschi. “The coming years will determine whether Europe can successfully shift freight transport from road to rail.”

The following were highlighted as key prerequisites:

• a reliable infrastructure with internationally coordinated planning and management of construction works;
• high-capacity diversion routes capable of ensuring at least 90 per cent of regular track capacity;
• and the early integration of major construction projects into the annual timetable planning process.

The digital transformation also remains a key challenge for the sector. Across the entire transport chain, stakeholders, systems and processes must be seamlessly digitally interconnected. This requires common standards as well as interoperable digital platforms and transhipment systems.

Finally, policymakers are also called upon to provide the shipping and logistics industry with planning certainty and investment security. Switzerland has taken the lead in this respect and has set important priorities: this spring, Parliament decided to ensure the continuation of operating subsidies for combined transport beyond 2030. Another key issue remains the track access charge reform in Germany, which is necessary to strengthen the long-term competitiveness of rail transport in comparison with road transport.