From December: charges for delay minutes caused in Germany
In December this year DB Netze will launch a scheme in which railway undertakings and the infrastructure manager are charged for delay minutes. The parties will pay per delay minute caused. This ‘performance scheme’ is a tool to eliminate delay minutes that could be avoided, and as such improve the performance of rail freight in Germany.
For more information, please see here.
Full to Europe, empty to China; if the container returns at all
The shipping containers departing from China to Europe are basically full, while a considerable part of the shipping containers returning to China from Europe are empty. The return of the box to China cannot be completely avoided. The rail freight industry should adopt a multi-pronged approach and avoid one-size-fits-all policy.
For more information, please see here.
Pandemic-weakened EU countries unlikely to waive track access charges
Only a few EU Member States will respond to the call of new EU legislation, allowing for a waiver, reduction or deferral of track access charges as long as the pandemic lasts. There may be little willingness to implement this, as the general economic state of most countries is not at its best at the moment. This was the conclusion of several experts during the Track Access Charges Summit, held on 14 and 15 October.
For more information, please see here.