Scoping and Feasibility Study for a European Transport Market Study
Client: RailNetEurope (RNE)
RailNetEurope (in short, RNE), commissioned the consortium formed by TRT (lead) and HaCon a scoping and feasibility study for the development of a freight transport market study at the European level (European Transport Market Study, or ETMS).
The need to investigate the technical characteristics, and the potential use cases of such a study stems from the scarce diffusion and lack of application of the Transport Market Studies made by individual European Rail Freight Corridors (RFCs) in the past. A European-level study would overcome the drawbacks identified with previous studies and would concretely support the necessity of optimising and coordinating efforts aimed at increasing the modal share of rail freight transport, in line with EU policy targets.
The research process underlying the feasibility study was first grounded on a thorough analysis of existing RFCs’ Transport Market Studies, aimed at identifying the respective contents and structure, as well as the data sources and databases employed; further, the employment of EU-scale models was assessed with respect to the purposes of simulation and forecasting, and a wide stakeholder consultation strategy was activated, bringing i.a. infrastructure managers, railway undertakings, associations, port terminals, and members of the Rail Freight Corridors to the table.
The project delivered a feasibility study with an accurate assessment of the actual possibility of making a Transport Market Study at the European scale, based on both the availability of necessary data and analytical tools, as well as the need to adequately and efficiently respond to the requests brought up by stakeholders.
Specifically, several options for realising the study have been evaluated, accompanied by the definition of required analytical tools and methodologies. Based on the best solution, the main components of the actual study have been set, and guidelines for its realization have been redacted.
For more information:
- RailNetEurope istitutional websire
- Dedicated page for Rail Freight Corridors
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