In 2023, Germany's Kombiverkehr, like other leading operators operating in the European market, has recorded a marked decrease in the volumes of shipments handled by rail, which are results of 815 thousand road shipments, with a decrease in -15.9% on the previous year, of which 629 thousand shipments international (-17.5%) and 187 thousand national (-10.1%). In terms of 20' containers handled, in 2023 shipments are amounted to 1.63 million TEUs (-16.0%), shipments that transported a total of 19 million tonnes compared to 22.9 million tonnes million tonnes in 2022.

Kombiverkehr has announced that in 2023 the situation is was very difficult due to the weakening of the economy strikes in France and Germany, pressure on the costs and the decline in quality due to network work as well as the effects of weather events on Alpine transport and for the temporary closure of the base tunnel of the Gotthard. "In some segments," he specified, " CEO Armin Riedl - these negative factors are even intensified and, together with the high pressure on the costs caused by the diversion of services and disproportionate costs energy for rail transport, have led to a overall situation which is serious. Unfortunately - he warned Riedl - this situation will continue until the end of the year'.

Mr Kombiverkehr stated that, as a result of the worsening of the situation, already at the beginning of 2023 the company has been forced to adjust transport prices and impose a additional energy supplements, which at the same time had an impact on the competitiveness and has caused a Further widening of road transport price gaps and rail transport.

Among the negative factors identified, the company believes In addition, the German transport incentive programme suffers from a lack of planning and highlighted that the current state of the federal budget, which provides for a reduction of funding also for the transport of goods on rail, makes the use of train paths more efficient again. costly for operators and freight forwarders. 'I funding that really aims to significantly increase the in the future, the market share of the railways in terms of CO2 - has Co-CEO Heiko Krebs - are therefore almost outdated. This, for us operators, does not facilitate a short- and medium-term breakthrough in development of the activity, all the more so as this year there will be Important renovation works have also been carried out on primary lines in Germany, which will also have a significant impact on the price-performance ratio of combined transport'.

If these factors do not allow Kombiverkehr to predict a improvement in the short and medium term, a dim light arrives by Brussels and, in particular, by the adoption last July of the "Greening Freight Package" completed on last November by the European Commission's proposal on the combined transport to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal European. "Generally speaking," Riedl explained, "we are very much in favour of the new directives, because finally shed light on some important issues that the sector needs to and that have long been ignored. Let's also see the opportunity to create a level playing field in which each mode of transport can benefit from its own specific advantages in a functioning market. In the At the same time, however, we see the enormous risk that the can be blocked halfway and thus cement the imbalance between road and rail. And this - Riedl denounced - is This is precisely what is likely to happen, not least because the The Commission only introduced the new rules at the final stage of the legislature'.