The International Rail Transport Associations and CER, ERFA, UIC, UIP and UIRR today presented a Joint study on the impact of the Commission's proposal Directive No. 53 of 25 July 1996 amending Directive regulates the weights and dimensions of commercial road vehicles, underlining how the research confirms the concerns of the sector rail freight transport, as they pointed out that if the the Commission's proposal was implemented without amendment the proposed measures would have disastrous consequences from the socio-economic and sustainability perspectives.

'The Commission's proposal, if approved as follows: as it is - explained Alberto Mazzola, general manager of the CER - will induce a modal shift from rail to the and consequently increase the external costs of transport and emissions, will reduce road safety and It will increase the cost of road maintenance. Even if the ERC is not opposed to support for zero-emission vehicles, However, we call on legislators to maintain the current limits of 40 tonnes for cross-border road traffic and eliminate those clauses that favour megatrucks that across Europe'.

The study finds, in fact, that allowing circulation of European Modular System (EMS) trucks, or gigaliner, with modular vehicle compositions that could increase its length to 25.25 metres, or even 32 metres, and the weight of up to 50-60 tonnes, could result in tariffs of transport standards on the currently dominant market of low-density, high-volume freight transport, which is The segment that is expected to grow the most dynamic in the coming decades for all modes of land transport. The study shows that, however, the Improving the operational efficiency of trucks should not only result in lower freight rates, but also produce at the same time, significant progress towards the EU Green Deal policies and a reduction in externalities internal freight transport (decarbonisation, efficiency energy efficiency, air quality, noise, accidents, congestion).

The study points out that the proposed increase in gross weight trucks and the green light for EMS would lead to an average to a reverse modal shift of up to 21% for all segments of rail transport and 16% for transport arranged. This could result in up to 10.5 million additional truck trips per year, with emissions of up to 6.6 millions of additional tonnes of CO2 and generating external costs €2.2 billion. In addition for the maintenance of road infrastructure would be More than €1.15 billion more needed per year.

"It is difficult to see how the proposal, in its current form - noted Conor Feighan, Secretary-General ERFA - will not contribute to reversing the transfer modal. As pointed out in this study, the impact of this proposal will be felt by all types of freight transport on rail, not just from single-wagon transport. Although important that, with regard to road transport, zero-emission vehicles, it is important that these incentives are limited to zero-emission vehicles only, and in the the promotion of intermodal transport'.

The study notes that although the measures proposed by the Commission have been designed to serve the interests of the intermodal freight transport, most of which are not very practical, ineffective or unnecessary.

Noting that the changes proposed by the European Commission seem to be a good contribution to greening the freight market in Europe, the Director-General of the UIC, François Davenne, pointed out that, 'in reality, the legislative proposal seriously undermines the jeopardised any attempt to create a truly interoperable. This is true for the railway sector and between the different modes of transport. It looks like - it has specified Davenne - that the longest and heaviest trucks are still technically compatible with combined transport road-rail. In fact, a significant part of the current The combined transport market will be negatively impacted. With the current proposal, the growth of the market is in jeopardy more than 50% in the last ten years."