Imminent price increase for Austria’s combined transport
CombiNet: Rail Cargo Austria plans another advance in price for national unaccompanied combined transport The national, unaccompanied combined transport in Austria is prone to fall behind truck traffic more and more. According to an information of CombiNet – Netzwerk Kombinierter Verkehr, Rail Cargo Austria AG (RCA) is preparing another price increase. As of 1 March 2010 the tariff is scheduled to rise 10 per cent. “Operators of combined transport are forced to pass this measure directly to the market, which is likely to lead to massive back-shiftings of national cargo transport from rail to the roads“, CombiNet alerts. In the paper the network emphasises that Rail Cargo Austria had already increased prices for national, unaccompanied multimodal transport by 9 to 15 per cent on 1 July 2009. Moreover, they say literally: “According to RCA’s statements national, unaccompanied combined transport amounts to 540,000 TEU. A back-shifting of 20 per cent would cause 54,000 truck trips more on Austria’s roads per year, and hence raise the emission of CO2 and harmful substances.“ In a debate at the Ministry for Transport on 27 January 2010, delegates of the Ministry, CEOs of RCA and a delegation of CombiNet – Netzwerk Kombinierter Verkehr will try to find solutions for this delicate situation. “It will show how far this back-shift of the traffic is desired. Otherwise a large number of previous promotions for combined transport will have to be seen as ´stranded investment` “, CombiNet writes. Quelle: Österreichische Verkehrszeitung |