“European freight rail transport is in a continuous storm”.
The alarm from the trade association Fermerci sounds once again: “Capacity constraints, maintenance backlogs, widespread construction sites, poor cross-border coordination and the new Swiss railway network access requirements undermine the sector’s competitiveness, with the concrete risk of a regression towards an exclusively road-based transport mode” explained a note following some meetings between Giuseppe Rizzi, the association’s general director, and the honorable members Carlo Fidanza and Flavio Tosi, rapporteur for the Combined Transport Directive.
“In particular, in the Alpine corridors and on the Italy–France and Italy-Switzerland axes, the disruptions have already shown dramatic effects, as demonstrated by the closures of the Modane and Gotthard passes following the landslide and the accident that occurred in 2023. To this is added the complex German situation, which foresees from 2027 until 2030 complete closures for 40 railway lines for up to five months each and the recent regulatory interventions issued by the Federal Office of Transport of the Swiss Confederation which will cause the blocking of a good part of the wagon fleet currently in circulation”.
Rizzi then emphasized that, while in Italy the critical issues related to the infrastructural transition, caused by the implementation of the Pnrr works, will most likely end by the end of 2026, in Germany, the main logistic-railway partner for Italy, from 2026 to 2030 railway interruptions will increase considerably due to network modernization works. A very critical future scenario, impossible to sustain for all companies in the national and international railway logistics sector.
The manager of the Italian Infrastructure is facing this critical phase for the sector with all available means, wide openness to discussion and coordination with companies and other Network Managers; the same does not apply for other countries: “Without an integrated approach, made of international coordination, adequate funding and common rules, the freight rail sector risks losing further capacity and competitiveness” Rizzi continued.
During the meetings, Fermerci also reiterated the need for a “balanced revision of the Combined Transport Directive, which takes into account the competitiveness differences between Member States, and an adequate regulation of the Weights and Dimensions Directive, so that the gap with the railway does not widen in favor of road transport”.
