Annual reports

For the German Pro-Rail Alliance (Allianz pro Schiene), 2010 was a year to celebrate. The 10th anniversary party, which took place on July 14, 2010, was held under the heading "10 Years Pro-Rail Alliance - Unique and Successful, Intelligent, Attractive, Modest". It was attended by prominent guests, including the Federal Transport Minister, Peter Ramsauer, and took place exactly 10 years after the railway alliance was founded in Frankfurt am Main.

100th supporting member marks 10th jubilee
Perhaps the biggest success in this jubilee year was gaining our 100th supporting member, with Wascosa AG joining us just in time for the main celebrations.

A quiet year in terms of transport policies...
In terms of transport policy, 2010 was relatively quiet. The new government needed time to settle down. There were no improvements to the competitive situation in favour of the railways. Only on the issue of extending road tolls on HGVs to include other categories of highways, something the Pro-Rail Alliance has been demanding for years, were the first tentative steps taken. The coalition factions agreed to extend the current charges, which only apply to motorways, to include certain federal dual carriageways.

CO₂ relevant targets for the transport sector for the first time 
Progress was also made in the area of transport policy targets. For the first time, the Federal Government indirectly defined a CO2 relevant goal for the sector. The total energy consumption of transport in Germany is to be reduced by 10 percent by 2020 and by 40 percent by 2050 (reference year 2005). With its cabinet agreement "energy concept", the Federal Government fulfilled one of the Pro-Rail Alliance's central objectives: to "define a central CO2 reduction target for the entire transport sector". (See Pro-Rail Alliance German language brochure "Fahrplan Zukunft" page 14).

Government wants a 25% market share for rail freight
The Pro-Rail Alliance was also very pleased with the cabinet vote on freight transport market shares. On November 30, the Federal Government accepted the 'Report on the Environment 2010', and in doing so, affirmed its intention of increasing the market share of rail freight transport from the current 16.4 percent to 25 percent by 2015. This is also one of the central objectives of the Pro-Rail Alliance (see Pro-Rail Alliance German language brochure  "Fahrplan Zukunft" page 14).

"Roads fund the roads" is detrimental to the railways
Towards the end of the first year of a conservative-liberal coalition government for over a decade, there were two government initiatives that were detrimental to rail transport. Firstly, the government's budget for 2011, which foresees that all income from road transport must be spent on the roads (roads fund the roads), and secondly, the Federal Transport Ministry's go-it-alone on its 'Action Plan for Freight Transport and Logistics'.

Success: Federal states vote against longer, heavier trucks
The Pro-Rail Alliance's biggest political achievement in 2010 was the vote by the transport ministers of the Federal States (Bundesländer) against national pilot trials of longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs).

First academic institution joins the Pro-Rail Alliance
As an organisation, the Pro-Rail Alliance also continued to expand. The Technical University Wildau is the first academic establishment to become a full member. Together with its three classic pillars 'environmental organisations', 'employee associations and 'consumer groups' the Pro-Rail Alliance now has access to an academic institution in its no-profit sector.

Kirchner succeeds Hommel as chairman
There was a change in personnel in the position of honorary chairman. After the fusion of the unions TRANSNET and GDBA to the new EVG, the Pro-Rail Alliance's membership elected EVG boss Alexander Kirchner to succeed Klaus-Dieter Hommel.