In the dynamic world of logistics and transport, finding sustainable and efficient solutions is paramount. Over ALICE Summit November 2024, similar symptoms were perceived in Europe on the subject. Intermodality is a major lever for decarbonisation and critical to increase sustainable transport capacity in Europe.
Recently, UIC/UIRR report on Combined Transport in Europe highlighted that despite there is no growth in rail freight overall, combined transport has experience and important growth in the last decade.
The reality and perception of modal shift
Despite the clear benefits of rail transport in terms of reducing carbon footprints and reducing road congestion, the sector struggles to attract consistent additional traffic. ALICE’s 2023 survey and workshops, which involved shippers, rail sector experts, and other stakeholders, identified significant barriers to achieving the European Commission’s targets to increase rail freight by 50% by 2030 and double it by 2050 compared to 2015 levels.
One of the key findings of this research is the disparity in perceptions between stakeholders. For example, shippers assess on-time performance by looking at the entire journey — origin to destination — while rail operators often focus only on the terminal-to-terminal segment. This distinction highlights a gap in understanding, as rail freight punctuality expectations are not aligned with the tighter delivery windows typically managed in road transport, where hauliers are often scheduled within 20-minute slots.
Challenges in intermodal transport
-
On-time performance (loading/unloading) and transit time: Shippers emphasise the importance of estimated time of arrival (ETA) and lead times, and their visibility in planning and operational phases.
-
Cost and capacity challenges: The current high cost of intermodal transport and other operational challenges have put renewed pressure on maintaining the share and growth of intermodal transport.
-
Structural problems in intermodal solutions: The absence of a competitive intermodal solution is often due to structural reasons related to the cost structure of intermodal versus road transport. In these cases, increasing intermodal capacity is seen as a «public good» with no immediate benefit to shippers or the LSPs working on the new connection even though the introduction of intermodal could reduce costs in the medium/long term.
-
Flexibility and set-up times: Road transport is more flexible and has shorter set-up times (days/weeks) compared to rail (months/years).
-
Misperceptions and data transparency: Shippers may have misconceptions about intermodal performance due to multiple intermediaries in the value chain involving LSPs, intermodal operators, railways, infrastructure managers and first/last mile road transportation.
