After more than four years of intense work by 24 experts from all over the EU (more than 45,000 hours of work), the “FERRMED Study of Traffic and Modal Optimisation in the EU” has been successfully concluded.
FERRMED is a non-profit multi-sectorial association that was founded by the private sector in Brussels in August 2004 in order to improve rail freight transportation and industrial competitiveness in Europe. As FERRMED states, there has never been a study or any research undertaken, with inventories of road and rail infrastructures as well as intermodal terminals, with the level of detail achieved in the study that the association produced.
The main conclusions are:
- Investing in 23 % of the EU Extended Core Network generates 101 % of total net present value (NPV). Slightly positive NPVs in further 39 % of the network are offset by negative NPVs in the remaining 38 %.
- Implementing the Fast Flexible Integrated Rail-Road System of Transport (+FIRRST) to move all kinds of ILUs (semi-trailers, containers and swap bodies) to different destinations in the form of “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS), is the best way to boost the stagnant share of the railway in land freight transport.
- Properly interlinking the identified EU Strategic logistic hubs and key interconnection nodes with the +FIRRST system, including the new intermodal terminal concept, is key for the achievement of Green Deal targets on transport (52 % operational cost reduction and 77 % externality reduction).
FERRMED expects that the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations of the Study will provide insights and relevant evidence to materialise the Greening Freight Package and to establish adequate guidelines for true integration of freight transport in Europe.