2016 Report on Combined Transport in Europe

Now in its 6th edition, the 2016 Combined Transport report once more shows the continued expansion of combined transport across Europe. The European economy is already shifting to greener modes of transport, and this process now needs to be supported by meaningful action.
2016 was a year of consolidation for continental and maritime volumes, but also – indeed, especially – a year of growth for intercontinental markets, particularly as regards traffic to and from China. One of the leitmotifs here was “One Belt, One Road”.
2016 also saw initial experience garnered with the rollout of the European freight corridors defined in Regulation 913/2010. Cohesion, harmonisation and coordination of action all stand to gain, whilst fuller integration of all stakeholders in the decision-making process can only be beneficial.
2017 will be an exciting year in many respects:

• Firstly at regulatory level, with the forthcoming revision procedure for Directive 92/106,
• Then at operational level, with the arrival in Germany of extra-long HGVs (“Lang-LKW”),
• gigaliners and other Eurotrailers,
• And lastly in design terms, with new aerodynamic designs being proposed for road vehicles.

This biannual report is a one-of-a-kind tool in that it supplies a time-series of practical data, enabling us to track developments in combined transport for over 10 years now. I would like to thank the members of the UIC Combined Transport Group and our partners, without whose input this report would not have been possible.

Eric Lambert