Ahead of next Tuesday's vote in Parliament on the proposal for a directive to amend Directive No 53 of 1996 laying down the maximum dimensions of heavy-duty vehicles in national and international traffic and the heavyweights of the vehicles employed in international traffic, a proposal which has included the objectives of reducing the emissions produced by the road haulage, the Italian associations in the transport sector Fermerci rail freight and Fercargo have warned again that the proposal could mark "a tough blow to the rail sector' as 'it could authorise the road circulation of gigaliners, trucks equipped with longer and heavier semi-trailers'.

According to Fermerci and Fercargo, "the set of these rules does not promote road safety and affects the environment, because limits the development of intermodal transport and increases the risk of congestion of the roads. The proposal, therefore, - have underlined the two associations - appears to be in strong contradiction with the environmental sustainability objectives introduced by the European Green Deal, which identifies rail transport as the unrivalled mode of transport in reducing the environmental impact of Europe's transport chains, thanks to the its performance in terms of CO2 emissions and efficiency energy'.

Recalling that "according to RFF (Rail Freight Forward), the coalition of Europe's leading railway undertakings, the negative impacts that the Directive would bring to the roads more than ten million more trucks, approximately 6.6 million tonnes of CO2 more than in the previous years, current levels', Fermerci and Fercargo noted that 'Going back with a choice of European media policy' contradictory transport compared to the Green Deal means, Therefore, jeopardise the development of rail freight transport and undermine the scope of the investments made to date to enable the growth of intermodal transport and shift modal, with the transfer of volumes from rubber to iron'.

Fermerci and Fercargo pointed out that "a reverse modal shift, according to industry studies, could in fact lead to a 16% decrease for transport and 21% for rail freight. This would lead to the deepening of an ongoing crisis for the sector for years due to national and international contingencies, further exacerbated by recent tensions in Europe and the Near East. Finally, the sector - specified the associations - would not benefit from the completion of the NRRP works on railway infrastructure, planned until 2026 and supported by substantial investments, the implementation of which is causing serious disruption to rail traffic and has already a loss of transport competitiveness rail freight compared to other modes of transport'.

On the basis of these considerations, Fermerci and Fercargo call on the Community and national institutions 'to make a clear and coherent transport policy choice, Otherwise, the crisis of rail logistics operators becomes irreversible."