News
The total volume of combined transport cargo moved by Union internationale pour le transport combine Rail-Route (UIRR) members in 2022 business year went down 0.3% from the previous business year. They carried 6.74 million TEUs in the intra-EU region, down 0.5% and a record 3.26 million TEUs domestically in EU members, up 5.6%. However, there was a decreased 48% in cargo transport outside the EU zone.
In ton-kilometer terms, historic highs were achieved in both the domestic and the intra-EU border-crossing, up 9.5% to 16.9 billion ton-kilometers and up 1.7% to 68.5 billion ton-kilometers, respectively. In contrast, extra-EU traffic suffered a reduction of 82.2% to 3.1 billion ton-kilometers due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The framework conditions of combined transport deteriorated throughout the year. Several member states failed to adequately compensate for the traction electricity price increase by not using the EU energy toolbox adopted under the Czech Presidency to its full extent. This forced intermodal operators to impose energy surcharges at a time when long-distance truckers faced declining diesel prices from a much better functioning fossil fuel market.
The pricing trend that undermined relative competitiveness was further exacerbated by the unprecedented weak performance of rail freight, where both poor punctuality and infrastructure capacity shortages affected intermodal freight trains adversely. Operational disturbances caused by excessive works, strikes and increasing passenger traffic disappointed freight customers, while causing losses of efficiency and capacity to operators. The economic slowdown observed since the second half of 2022 came on top of the compromised capacity and competitiveness of the intermodal sector.
