Trends in European rail freight and selected railway strategies

We are delighted to present to you in this unique edition a compilation of six interviews with CEOs from six European rail freight carriers, all of which are UIC members, namely : BLS Cargo (Switzerland), SNCB Logistics (Belgium, formerly B-Cargo), RCA (Austria), SBB Cargo (Switzerland), SZ (Slovenia) and Trenitalia (Italy). One thing is already clear, however: the liberalisation and harmonisation of the market have in the last decade resulted in an enormous improvement in the efficiency and quality of goods transport by rail. Even though market liberalisation is just getting underway in some countries, and there is still a great deal to be done in the field of technical and organisational harmonisation throughout Europe, no one can deny that the efforts already made have led to a major boost in productivity. Even more importantly, this new energy will also foster a European integrated railway area in the near future. [...]