Rail associations warn government on one-sided policies favouring road transport

Berlin. During the opening of the German Logistic Congress, under the slogan ‘intelligent expansion’, the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and the Pro-Rail Alliance warned the federal transport minister Peter Ramsauer against one-sided transport policies in favour of the roads. “The greatest potential for freight transport growth is quite obviously on the railways, as can be seen from all the relevant forecasts and statistics,” said the VDV managing director Dr. Martin Henke. It is time that transport policies began to make sure that there is expansion on the rail network for freight transport to avoid the danger of traffic bottlenecks in the future.

The VDV and the Pro-Rail Alliance reacted with astonishment and criticism to the latest announcements by the federal government, which wants all the income from tolls on HGVs to be invested in highway construction in the future. “Achieving ring-fenced funding is a real coup for the automotive lobby. Regardless of what requirements actually are in the future, from now on every cent received from tolls on trucks must be turned into asphalt,” said Dirk Flege, managing director of the Pro-Rail Alliance. “We are building roads for levels of traffic that we can really no longer afford.” Flege was critical of transport policies that he described as a traffic round-about without an exit.

The VDV was also disappointed in the government. “The roads will receive a guaranteed annual amount from the tolls on HGVs, but investments in the railways will be budgeted according to the economic situation. For the necessary further development of rail freight transport, such political decisions are contra-productive and incomprehensible,” said Henke.

For rail freight transport, this latest decision is the third time that it has had to swallow a ‘bitter pill’ in recent months. At the start of 2010, the coalition government slashed funding for combined transport. The transport ministry then amended its ‘Master-plan for Freight Transport and Logistics’, shifting the focus to the detriment of the railways. “People in Germany want to see traffic shifted on to trains. Instead of that, the transport ministry is pursuing one-side transport policies for strengthening the roads,” criticised the Pro-Rail Alliance managing director.