Exactly 25 years after the signing of the “Treaty of Lugano”, the German railway station in the Swiss border metropolis of Basel took stock. For the VAP, in addition to the expansion of the line on the right bank of the Rhine, that of the line on the left bank of the Rhine for freight traffic is also urgent. Automation, in particular through digital automatic coupling, must be implemented just as quickly. Finally, the VAP welcomes the proposed opening up of the EU Combined Transport Directive to multimodal transport with freight instead of container transhipment when changing modes of transport.
New agreement
Under the motto “Visiting Friends”, the contracting countries concluded a new agreement that complements the Treaty of Lugano and sets new priorities. It provides for the sustainable strengthening of rail freight transport, wants to optimise its intermodal competitiveness and intensify cooperation in innovation – especially the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAK) – as well as in the joint project Shift2Rail. After the speeches of the guests Winfried Hermann, Minister of Transport of Baden-Württemberg, and Adolf Ogi, former Federal Councillor of Switzerland, Josef Dittli, Member of the Council of States and President of the VAP Association of the Freight Industry, spoke about the core topics of this anniversary.
Adolf Ogi, former Federal Councillor of Switzerland
Securing the access route is necessary
Josef Dittli brought in the perspective of the VAP. On the Swiss side, the VAP contributes with various measures to the promotion of an efficient freight railway system. Dittli emphasised the necessity of extending the railway line to the left bank of the Rhine in France in order to secure the access routes. With the motion «State treaty for NEAT access route on the left bank of the Rhine», the NR Commission for Transport and Telecommunications had instructed the Federal Council in January 2020 to seek a state treaty with France and Belgium for an efficient alternative route on the left bank of the Rhine (flat railway) with the necessary infrastructure parameters for freight traffic. In addition, the expansion of the Rhine Valley railway in Germany should be pursued with vigour. With regard to the new agreement between Switzerland (DETEC) and the German Ministry of Transport, Josef Dittli noted that it was well-intentioned but more like a non-binding declaration of intent, and demanded: «The new agreement must not invalidate the Treaty of Lugano, but should complement it.» Josef Dittli welcomed the fact that France is now pushing ahead with plans to increase the clearance gauge in tunnels on the Réding-Saverne section of the Saarbrücken-Basel line via France, as announced by the French infrastructure operator SNCF Réseau.
Josef Dittli, Member of the Council of States and President of the VAP
The VAP promotes automation and digitalisation
The VAP also advocates a vote at European level on the issues of automation and digitalisation. With the motion «Using automation to transport goods by rail more efficiently», it has called for the necessary financial resources. And with the Wagonload Transport Interest Group (IG WLV), it is committed to the implementation of corresponding measures together with other players in the economy.
Multimodal transport points the way to the future
For the VAP, it is important to promote not only combined transport in the narrower sense, but also multimodal transport with transhipment of goods. The latter also combines different modes of transport and meets the requirements of the strongly growing general cargo business in particular. The VAP therefore welcomes the corresponding proposals of the EU Commission for the revision of the Combined Transport Directive. Such proposals can make a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the European Green Deal. In Switzerland, the volume of multimodal rail freight transport is five times higher than that of combined transport. It is no coincidence that the event was held in Basel; after all, the port of Basel is successfully on the move as a hub for loose goods for multimodal water/rail transport.
