Due to
rising costs and increasing uncertainty surrounding rail transport,
companies are increasingly opting to transport their goods by road.
politicians must address this issue urgently, as rail freight transport is vital
for the Netherlands’ competitive position, according to EVO. State Secretary Wilma Mansveld of Infrastructure and the Environment has now pledged to take measures.
The
issue centres mainly on the NS’s plan to
. Companies are threatening to take over the rail link connecting their production site, which is on
connect to the main network. This would entail
significant costs, whilst the government had previously decided to
to increase the costs of using the rail network by ten per cent. Even
All in all, this will prove to be a costly business for trading and manufacturing companies.
Reduced capacity due to the Betuweroute
Due to railway renovation works in Germany, those same companies are also
once again facing reduced capacity for their inbound and outbound freight.
They receive no compensation for the additional costs this incurs, but
the carriers do.
A solution before the summer
State Secretary
Wilma Mansveld, State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment, has promised that
a proposed solution will be in place before the summer for the takeover of
NS rail connections. She also believes that transport operators are not, in all cases,
entitled to compensation for diversions during the refurbishment of the Betuwe Route in
Germany. They should only receive this if their customers, the shippers,
benefit from it. In addition, a board member and a director within ProRail would be appointed
for freight transport.
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