The measures proposed in the revision of the Directive on weights and dimensions of heavy-duty vehicles, aimed at greening freight transport, are “partially impracticable and ineffective”, according to a study published on Thursday 11 January by several representatives of the rail industry.
Presented in July by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13308/19), this revised directive should harmonise the rules applying to transport operators and encourage the use of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the International Union of Railways (UIC), the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR), the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA) and the International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP) have warned that these measures pose risks to the interoperability of road and rail freight transport.
“The Commission proposal, if approved as it stands, will induce a modal shift from rail to road and as a result increase transport external costs and emissions, reduce road safety, and increase road maintenance costs”, warned Alberto Mazzola, Executive Director of the CER. “We nonetheless call on legislators to keep the current limits of 40 tons for cross-border road traffic and to eliminate those clauses favouring megatrucks crossing Europe”, he added.
To read the study, go to https://aeur.eu/f/adr (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)