INTERNATIONAL UNION OF COMBINED ROAD-RAIL TRANSPORT COMPANIES

1996

UIRR Report

IMPRESSUMPublisher: UIRR, Bruxelles

Photos: UIRR, Bruxelles

Design: Monkey, Bruxelles

Printed in Belgium

This Report was printed

on recycled paper.

FOREWORD

Transport policy is facing im-portant changes. Only those

companies which adapt to thesechanges and to the customers’requirements will be successful.The great strength of UIRR compa-nies is their closeness to the mar-ket. Thousands of road hauliersand freight forwarders have setup combined road-rail companiesand are committing themselvesto developing them further.Structural changes require ope-rators to be flexible. The UIRRproved this when, in 1995, despitemany days of strike at more thanone railway undertaking, it man-aged to increase traffic and todevelop new sales markets inten-sively where traditional marketswere stagnating.

In October 1995, the UIRR celebratedits 25th anniversary. Its success isdemonstrated not only in the geographicalexpansion from eight founding members tothe present seventeen members in as manyEuropean countries, but mainly in the result:last year 6,500 long-distance lorry journeysper day were shifted onto rail, and over the lastten years, international transport has morethan trebled.

The chances for further positive developmentare good as long as one basic rule is main-tained : the concerted action of road-rail com-panies, the railways and transport policy-makers.Transport policy currently sets frameworkconditions in three areas which will have agrowing influence on the future of combinedtransport :• competition between transport modes

(Commission Green Paper on ”Fair andEfficient Pricing”)

• competition in the railway sector (DirectiveEEC 91/440”)

• investment in infrastructure

With its Green Paper ”Towards Fair andEfficient Pricing in Transport”, the EuropeanCommission has made a first move towardsshifting the external costs, i.e. the costs whichare currently passed on to third parties, societyor future generations, to those generatingthem. Improved efficiency will be obtained

provided that transport users take account ofthe real costs when choosing a certain modeof transport. Every step towards costs beingborne by the party generating them promotesfair competition between the different modes -this can only be beneficial for combinedtransport which depends on the co-operationbetween road and rail.

The aim of the Railway Directive EEC 91/440is to bring competition into the railway busi-ness. The UIRR is hoping for a jump inproductivity of rail transport which couldcreate improved chances for combined trans-port. What matters now is to overcomenational railway structures. Only when themanagement of the infrastructure is complete-ly separated from the rail operators, will theexisting railways be in a position to competewith each other on the “neighbouring net-work”. Only then will the many private, andmostly regional, railway undertakings have theopportunity to opt freely to co-operate orcompete with the larger railways. Initially, the”open access” Directive has made existingforms of co-operation more difficult. Somerailways are now behaving towards the opera-tors as if internal competition was alreadya reality. One should not fear to achieve resultsin partnership and collaboration merelybecause it might benefit a competitor.However, many railways have recognised that

it is particularly in times of majorchanges that reliability in a partner-ship matters most. The competence ofcombined transport companies is nowmore in demand than ever.

The third instrument with whichtransport policy can set the coursefor the future of combined transportis capital expenditure on infrastruc-ture. Thus, not only do the twoTrans-European Networks (TEN)projects from Munich to Veronaincluding the Brenner tunnel and theBetuwe line from Rotterdam to theRuhr — which were specially identi-fied for combined freight trans-port — create better conditions, butalso the construction of new lines forhigh-speed passenger transport, whichrelieve the existing tracks in favour offreight transport. The construction of

terminals is also a condition for shifting trans-port from road onto rail. Transport policy mustnot only demand combined transport, butalso promote it. Infrastructure costs will there-fore play a key role. With the separation ofrailway infrastructure and operation, it hasbecome evident that unproductive areas, sur-plus staff etc. are being pushed more and moreinto the area remaining in public ownership.Already today the operating units of manyrailways are no longer able to offer operatorsprices in line with the market because they arecharged with excessive track costs from theirinfrastructure units. The solution can only beto spread the fixed costs over the income fromgreater volumes of traffic and to achieve con-siderable rationalisation in the constructionand maintenance of the infrastructure.

The transport market and its main players areon the move — and we welcome that. The taskof the governments is to set a framework forenhanced but fair competition. Transportcompanies in combined transport must reactflexibly to the changing conditions and, betterstill, act and set new standards.

Werner Külper (left), President of the UIRR, with Neil Kinnock,

EU Transport Commissioner.

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SYSTEMS INTEGRATIONTHE NEW ROLE OF THE RAILWAYS

For its recent world congress,the international road transport

union IRU commissioned a survey(1)

on transport matters. In this, a rep-resentative sample of almost 10,300people from 13 European countrieswas asked about its perception ofthe comparative characteristics ofgoods transport by road and by rail.The result showed that a largemajority attributes a greater flexibil-ity to road transport as well as acertain advantage in terms of speed.Rail ranked clearly first, however,when it came to naming the leastpolluting, the safest and also themost economical form of transport.

Although the questions were formulated in ageneral way and even though the question ofperformance over distance did not feature inthe survey, this verdict turns out to be highlyrelevant in practice.

For more than twenty-five years, the UIRRand its member companies have based theiractivities on the respective advantages of roadand rail. They make every endeavour to prove,with increasing success, that there is a way ofallowing the transport market to benefit fromthe characteristics of both these modes, bybringing them together through the variouscombined transport options available. In1995, these road-rail combinations amountedto over 1.6 million journeys, representingapproximately 3.7 million TEUs. However,these impressive figures do not yet translateinto a substantial market share — a break-through — of combined transport.

Another part of the Swiss survey, which putquestions to road hauliers, indi-cates that only 23% of themhad, at one time or another,taken steps to participate incombined transport. Furthersusta ined ef for ts are thus

required to raise wider awareness amongstthose holding by far the largest share offreight transport in Europe. We continue towork hard towards this goal, but our effortswould be all the more effective if national andinternational road hauliers’ and freight for-warders’ associations were to join us withfirmer conviction and by doing so, wouldprove more conscious of their members’ long-term interests.

The reluctance of road hauliers and forward-ing agents to entrust part of their transportoperations, for part of the total journey, to therail mode, is due less to a feeling of losing thetraffic, — let us bear in mind that they retaincontrol over such transport —, than to reserva-tions concerning security and efficiency of theservice over the whole transport chain. Therailways have to become more reliable. Thiswill certainly happen when these undertakingswill — as the operators do — function in a real-ly competitive environment, which would leadthem to devote all their efforts to providingtraction services that would prove more punc-tual, free from interruptions on technicalgrounds or for reasons of different social regu-lations and generally more economical.

Competition has proved beneficial to the qual-ity and the price of the product, in all those

sectors of the industry where it has replacedcomfortable monopoly or quasi-monopoly sit-uations. Its implementation in the rail sectorwould not necessarily mean that we wouldchange partners. The UIRR companiesachieved their present combined transport fig-ures, representing over 55% of all such trans-port in Europe, in co-operation with theso-called national railway companies. Suchassociations are not abolished by the first com-petitor that appears ; but their continuationpresupposes that these companies are orremain the best railway operators. Directive91/440 has created the conditions enablingthe national railway companies to becomemore efficient. The first stages of its imple-mentation have not yet met the high expecta-tions. On the contrary, some of these com-panies seemed more concerned with compet-ing with the UIRR-members in the field ofcombined transport marketing, by supportingor forming subsidiaries, some of which havingdistinguished themselves more by their severedeficits than by their contribution to develop-ing new traffic flows. Similarly, some newrailway company associations have beenannounced, introducing non-European inter-ests. Their declared improvement of rail ser-vices has still to be proven.

By strengthening their partnership ties, — likethose prevailing between UIRR companies, —the European railways and our members can,with the help of their respective know-how,build a progressing and efficient combinedtransport, which would benefit the wholetransport sector, particularly the road partners.

On every occasion, the UIRR continues todemonstrate its willingness to co-operate withthe established railway companies. Providedthese companies pursue convincing strategies

against recent trends that maythreaten their own operations,we believe a prosperous futuretogether and a growing marketshare for combined transportlie ahead of us.

RUDY COLLEDirector General of the UIRR, Brussells

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(1) MIS Trend s.a., CH - 1005 Lausanne

SYSTEMS INTEGRATIONTHE SHUTTLE SYSTEM

In the beginning of the 1990ies, itseemed as if the period of unlimited

growth of combined rail/road trans-port was over. On the one handbottlenecks began to develop at ter-minals and transhipment centresand on the other hand the overallcompetitive situation was experienc-ing important changes. These newmarket conditions placed combinedtransport in an entirely differentcontext, which led Hupac to rethinkits approach to this transporttechnique, revise its structures, anddevelop alternative logistical con-cepts. The ”Shuttle Train” conceptwas born.

In European combined transport, the ex-pression ”shuttle” is increasingly used in avery general way. The following conditionshowever, must be fulfilled for a Hupaccombined transport train to qualify as a”Shuttle” :

• The composition of the wagons is constant,and their number remains unchanged. Thespecifications and the loading possibilitiesoffered must be compatible with the types ofloading units used by HUPAC customers onthe shuttle route concerned. The waggons inthe composition will only be changed ontechnical grounds.

• The train schedule foresees a minimum of 5round trips per week.

• The train shuttles always between the sametwo terminals.

• The train is not shunted neither on the waynor at the points of departure or arrival.

• Hupac purchases traction services from the rail-ways, and thus assumes the full loading risk.

• A single and unique consignment noteis issued for the entire train(instead of such a note per load-ing unit or per wagon).

• It is no longer necessary to labeleach waggon.

The distinctive feature of thissolution is that transports isoffered exactly at the point where

demand occurs, i.e. between the majorindustrial centres. Hupac, whose corporateheadquarters is located in Switzerland, is par-ticularly familiar with the situation prevailingin the Alpine region, and that is why itsservices concentrate on transalpine long-dis-tance transport.

With the introduction of shuttle trains in1989, Hupac developed a system, that looks atoperational problems on the one hand andcommercial problems in combined rail-roadtransport on the other in a completely newway, and this has resulted in new solutions andinnovative trends in the field of Europeancombined transport. The market share of theshuttle trains has increased steadily ever since.Today, more than 80% of Hupac-shipmentsare provided with shuttle trains.

Because prices are stable over the long-term,schedules highy reliable, transport conditionssafe (no shocks due to shunting) and capacitymeasurable, not only Hupac but especially itscustomers benefit from this progressive shuttlesystem. Thanks to the shuttle the railwaysthemselves are able to reduce their costs dras-ticly, and for the first time the shippers canapply ”just-in-time” concepts to rail. TheUIRR companies appreciate the productbecause of its easy technical and operational

handling, but also due to the transparent andlonger-term scheduling of transport volumes.The general public also benefits from the ser-vice concerned, because it implies fewer risksof accidents with hazardous goods and theireffect on soil, air and water and because it usesthe energy and space resources in a rationalmanner.

In the meantime the shuttle train concept hasbeen adopted by other combined transportoperators. Nevertheless, Hupac was the firstcompany in Europe to have conceptionallythought it through and developed and appliedit in practice. Moreover, taking into consider-ation the technical innovations and theappropriate management and communicationsystems, the company has created a conceptwhich is not only applicable on an interna-tional scale but also takes account of futuretransport requirements and which generatessignificant savings for the entire logisticalchain. All the information concerning ship-ments and trains are processed daily at thetranshipment yards by an IBM host computer,and where this is not done in real time, theinformation is transmitted to Hupac’s centralcomputer system via on-line links.Data areexchanged with the UIRR-partners and trans-mitted to the railway undertakings involved,in order to ensure that their operations alsoproceed from an error-free exchange of data.Thanks to the recording and the immediatetransfer of all important transport data, Hupaccan guarantee permanent, immediate and reli-able monitoring of shipments.

Hupac submitted the ”shuttle” concept for the1996 European Transport Prize, and was hon-oured to see the concept selected by the jurylast March in Düsseldorf.

The Swiss member company has succeeded inintegrating modern and tradi-tional combined transport tech-niques and in attaining highertraffic volumes. This conceptnot only fits into the officialtransport policy of the nationalgovernments, but certainly anti-cipates the future policy forEurope as a whole.

THEO ALLEMANNChief Executive of Hupac, Switzerland

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It is no risky assumption to statethat for Trailstar maritime contain-

ers will show the biggest growth inintermodal rail transport in the com-ing years, despite the increasingadvantages of continental traffic.With Rotterdam estimating they willhandle six million boxes or more in2005, twice the 1995 figure, therewill be a lot of opportunities head-ing into the direction of combinedtransport. As many boxes as possibleshould be carried by internationalrail shuttles.

In 1995 the maritime share in Trailstar’s vol-ume rose from 3% to 6%. For the Dutch roleas an important distribution centre to Europethis is vitally important in order to hold andstrengthen its market share, especially in themore remote European regions, beyond thecontainer trucking radius, or the Rhine basin.Accounting for 10,000 companies, about400,000 directly employed and eight percentof Holland’s GNP, the Dutch transport anddistribution sector strongly depends on ”open”channels in all directions.

Intermodal activitiesThe modal split — internationally — of mar-itime containers in Rotterdam roughly is : road60%, inland shipping 25% and rail 15%. Theconsequences of the expected steep rise of vol-ume, even with the modal split remainingunchanged, are easily guessed. In the idealDutch scenario all growth of container trans-port is to be absorbed by inland shipping andrail. This emphasises the enormous — and chal-lenging — mission for the intermodal rail sectorto extend the European rail shuttle network.

CongestionFrom the Rotterdam rail container terminalsat least 150 international shuttle trains aredespatched each week. Most operators wanttheir shuttles scheduled in prime time, creat-ing congestion problems at the rail terminalalthough it is open day and night. Partlybecause congestion is looming-up around con-tainer shuttles as a result of their imbalance— albeit far less than with road transport — thelargest terminal in Rotterdam ECT (EuropeCombined Terminals) has come up with asolution. The project which set off in May,features a daily sailing by container barge toDuisburg, where the DeCeTe terminal pro-vides link-up to the road system, but especial-ly to the extensive rail network with some 70connections to destinations all over Europe.

Plan 2000-ShortAn even larger project is Plan 2000-Shortwhich concentrates short sea container trafficin the port of Rotterdam at one location. Plan2000-Short offers a united and dedicatedcomplex enabling synergetic advantages andeconomies of scale. The co-operating partiesare leading integrated short sea containerlines, their stevedores and the RotterdamPort Authority. Construction was startedby European Transport Commissioner NeilKinnock. In the final phase the project willcomprise 60 hectares with an annual tranship-

ment capacity for 700.000 boxes and withinvestments totalling Dfl. 200 million. Theopportunity has emerged for the shippinglines to use each other’s vessels without trans-ferring containers within the port area. Withthis physical concentration Plan 2000-Shortaims to make Rotterdam the junction of”thick” container flows between the Continentand the British Isles and flows to and fromNorth and South Europe. The hub and spokeeffects plus the oncarriage connections shouldenable short sea shipping to gradually attractmore cargo, and thus produce the snowballeffect allowing higher frequencies and speed.Focus is on road cargo suitable for containeri-sation, preferably in the best ”wet” trailer alter-native around: the 45-footer. The short seaoperators are taking up competition with roadhauliers by introducing the 45 foot containerpalletwide. Short sea, like rail, enjoys the risingpolitical tide — as the European round tableproject shows. Plan 2000-Short placingRotterdam at the exact cross-roads of north-south and east-west trades, obviously offersextra potential to container shuttles.

Impact of the Betuwe LineAs the starting-point and westernmost invest-ment of the Betuwe Line a second rail terminalwill be built at the Maasvlakte, where the currentterminal already encounters congestion problemswith the 150,000 rail containers handled perannum. At the current growth rate this will havedoubled in three years, which furthermoreemphasises the necessity for co-operation bothbetween intermodal rail interests, and betweencontinental and maritime groups. Together, weall must eliminate the phenomenon of two trainsdeparting for the same destination within anhour, both utilised at half capacity only. This is inthe interest of an optimum payload, but moreimportantly for the sake of a most efficient use ofEurope’s rail infrastructure.

SYSTEMS INTEGRATIONMARITIME CONTAINERS IN COMBINED TRANSPORT

JAN H. VAN EXELDirector of Trailstar, Rotterdam.

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SYSTEMS INTEGRATIONTHE RECONSTRUCTION OF DESTROYED SYSTEMS

Peace in the Balkans provideshaulage companies with new

opportunities and challenges. Thereconstruction of areas destroyed inthe war in Bosnia-Herzegovina andCroatia began with support fromthe international community and in particular the European Union.The rail and road infrastructure inBosnia-Herzegovina has been great-ly affected. There are still poli-tical conflicts between the FederalRepublic of Yugoslavia and Croatiawhich makes a normal flow of traf-fic between these countries impossi-ble. This also applies to transit trafficto Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

The rail and road infrastructure should berenewed in as little time as possible and thepolitical obstacles should be removed so thattraffic can resume unhindered. In order todevelop combined transport successfully it isalso necessary to establish suitable terminals inBosnia-Herzegovina.

The Slovenian combined transport company,Adria Kombi, the successor of the formerYugoslavian company YUKOMBI, has keptup contacts with the new Balkan States. AdriaKombi is currently running combinedtransport services in Slovenia and Croatia.However, it also covers the area of Bosnia-Herzegovina by serving Tuzla, Sarajevo andMostar by lorry trailers and containers fromthe Croatian terminals of Slavonski Brod andSplit. There is great interest in resuming railtraffic on the Ljubljana - Zagreb - Belgrade -Ni‰ - Skopje - Thessaloniki/Ni‰ - Sofia - Istan-bul line. As soon as the political frameworkconditions have improved, rail trans-port will begin operating. The infra-structure has been repaired ready foran immediate start. The terminals inBelgrade and Skopje are equipped forall types of combined transport and atAdria Kombi we are preparing for theopening of this major rail connection.The terminal in Ljubljana is increasing-ly becoming the transhipment centrefor connections between the Federal

Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia (FYROM),Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and betweenSlovenia and the European Union.

Rail transport and combined transport nowhave an advantage over pure road transportsince new frontiers have come into being withwaiting periods for lorries of currently 8-10hours at border posts. These modes of trans-port are thus quicker and consequently morecompetitive.

The Slovenian and Croatian railway com-panies have convenient timetables fromLjubljana to Villach, to the ports of Koper andRijeka and to other terminals in Sloveniaand Croatia. The railway administrations inYugoslavia and Macedonia are improving andalso co-ordinating their timetables. In Croatia,preparations are under way for the intendedfounding of a national company for combinedtransport by the end of 1996. There are simi-lar plans in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Adria Kombi is firmly supporting these effortswith the aim of gaining new and powerfulpartners who are able to develop combinedtransport in these countries successfully.

Preparations for entry to the EU are wellunder way. Now that Slovenia filed its applica-

tion for accession, the transport sector is nowundergoing far-reaching restructuring. Themain problem is the lack of investment fundsavailable, which are not sufficient for all pro-jects but which, for the moment, are mainlybeing concentrated on the rail and road sector.From a technological and commercial point ofview, this is a great advantage for combinedtransport. Particularly noteworthy is the factthat the necessary loading gauge is available onall the main lines.

In order to promote combined transport, theSlovenian government has already modifiedsome major regulations to bring them in linewith those of the EU, in particular permittinga greater total weight and lifting the travel banon Sundays and public holidays in road traffic.Furthermore, the Slovenian railway companyhas received subsidies for transport servicescarried out in combined transport.

In contrast, a great increase in lorry traffic isappearing and to complicate matters, a largenumber of lorries from Eastern Europe do notmeet Western European environmental stan-dards. In order to avoid this pollution and tocope with the increase in traffic in as environ-mentally friendly ways as possible, AdriaKombi, together with Hungarokombi, isorganising the Szeged - Ljubljana rollingmotorway which is being extended to SeÏanauntil the end of the year. Ecological problems are also troubling Croatia where Adria Kombi,in co-operation with Ökombi and theCroatian railways, is looking into the possibil-ity of introducing a rolling motorway fromSlavonski Brod to Wels and SeÏana.

Despite their ambition, the operators knowthat they cannot solve the huge problem of

organising transport in the areas dam-aged by war all by themselves. Theyneed the assistance of the various rail-ways, the active support of transportpolicy, the international financial insti-tutions and the EU. Financial backinghas already been made available as partof the Phare and PACT programmes ofthe EU-Commission. These examplesshould be followed by others.

ROK SVETEKDirector of Adria Kombi, Ljubljana.

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ADRIA KOMBI, (Ljubljana). Since the sign-ing of the peace agreement, this membercompany has focused most of its activities onnon-accompanied transport in the BalkanStates and more particularly on Croatia,Bosnia and Serbia. Container traffic from theport of Koper to Austria, the Czech and SlovakRepublic and Hungary is also developing well.If the increase in transport volume allows,Adria Kombi plans to set up direct train ser-vices. In addition, a considerable growthhas been noted on the rolling motorwayLjubljana-Szeged, which will improve evenfurther once the new terminal in SeÏana nearthe Italian border is opened.

BOHEMIAKOMBI, (Prague) has been amember of the UIRR since the beginning of1996. The rolling motorway service betweenLovosice and Dresden that opened in autumn1995 has been reinforced. This link, thatreplaces transport by motorway, has to bemaintained at least until the opening of themotorway between Prague and Dresden andrepresents an enormous growth potential forthe company. Currently twelve trains runon this route and two trains per day usethe Budweis-Villach rolling motorway.Bohemiakombi has also achieved significantgrowth rates in the non-accompanied trans-port of containers between the ports ofNorthern Germany and the Czech Republic.

CEMAT, (Milan) once again experiencedimpressive growth in 1995. Among last year’sinnovations is transport under satellite-con-trolled temperature and the opening of a multi-modal corridor for the transport of hazardousgoods to Greece. The possibilities for expan-sion that Eastern Europe offers — especially

Poland, Russia and Belorus — are planned tobe exploited more fully. This includes the pilotproject for a direct link between Padua andMoscow and a direct train running 4 times aweek on the Verona-Rostock-Scandinavia line.Refrigerated swap-bodies, special wagons fortransport via the Channel Tunnel, new tran-shipment equipment and on-line informationare part of the extended range of servicesoffered by the company.

COMBIBERIA, (Madrid). The opening ofthe Channel Tunnel has resulted in a shift intraffic to the south of France. Combiberia hasset the objective of acquiring new customers inorder to open up the Iberian Peninsula tocombined transport. A notable increase intraffic with Portugal and the connectionbetween Portugal and the Spain-Germany linkvia Barcelona reinforce the ”Iberian” characterof the company. The increase in the number ofSpanish customers — who were initially reti-cent to the idea of combined transport — is awelcome development.

CTL, (London) has since June 1994confirmed its position as the leader on theBritish market for combined transport tothe Continent in close co-operation withNovatrans and CEMAT. Since mid-1996, 44UIRR trains per week have been running onthe routes between England and Italy, Spainand France. The transport activities via theTunnel are currently concentrated on 5 termi-nals in Great Britain (London, Birmingham,

Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow). Othersare planned for the near future. CTL hasinstalled ultra-modern software which providesa means of localising the trains and rapidlyinforming customers. In addition to transportvia the Channel Tunnel, CTL offers links withthe ports of Zeebrugge and Le Havre.

HUNGAROKOMBI, (Budapest) doubled itsnumber of consignments compared with the pre-vious year. The rolling motorway holds a key posi-tion in transport through Hungary. The numberof trains on the Sopron-Wels route has increased tofive a day. The links between Budapest and Welsand between Szeged (in the south-east of Hun-gary) and Ljubljana have been added recently. Thelatter allows Romanian customers to transporttheir goods daily to Italy without authorisation.Thanks to a PACT-UIRR project, the companyhas been able to develop its computer system andis currently setting up a telecommunications sys-tem with companies from neighbouring countries.

HUPAC, (Chiasso) was one of the firstEuropean operators to obtain in June 1995 themuch-acclaimed ISO 9002 quality certificate.The internal Quality Management System,which already existed, and the shuttle trainsystem are two factors which have provided ameans of obtaining this certification. In addi-tion, in 1995, the company enjoyed a 10%growth rate in non-accompanied combinedtransport. Thanks to the continuous extensionof the network and the ambitious applicationof the concept of shuttle trains, 80% of itstransport is assured by this type of train.

KOMBIVERKEHR, (Frankfurt) achieved a3% increase during 1995 which is satisfactory

COMPANY REPORTS

8

considering the high figures from the previousyear. Thanks to the increase in the number ofdirect trains, transport has expanded on thenumerous international routes and has, forexample, doubled on the route to Spain. Thetransport of containers from sea ports in thenorth of Germany to the Czech Republic andHungary has seen growth in double figures.The development of transport by boat isimpressive despite a set back in the politicalframework conditions following Austria’s join-ing of the Union. As regards Alpine transport,Kombiverkehr has achieved an 8% increase.

NOVATRANS, (Paris) could have achieved asensational result in 1995 if the SNCF had notgone on strike for four weeks. Prior to thestrike, the growth of traffic was around 15% ininternational transport and 10% in nationaltransport. Novatrans has equipped its termi-nals in Lille and Le Havre with new tranship-ment equipment. Thanks to the Minitelsystem, Novatrans can provide its customerswith information on the status of certain trainson French tracks. In the event of a delay,unproductive waiting time for those calledupon to assure a terminal route can thus beavoided. Novatrans anticipates a considerableincrease in traffic following the opening ofnew routes, the expansion of main terminalsand the addition of new timetable slots.

ÖKOMBI, (Vienna) achieved a 5.5% growthrate during this first difficult year of Austria’smembership of the EU. Especially in the fieldof rolling motorways, Community taxation onturnover applied to cross-border combinedtransport and the reduction of taxes on roadtransit have had their impact. Although theconsequences of liberalisation constitute astrategic turning point for the Austrian trans-port sector, Ökombi aims to achieve again in1996 double-figure growth rates thanks to the

effects of the Ecopoint system, the creation ofnew links from and to Eastern Europe and apolicy of direct trains in line with the market.

POLKOMBI, (Warsaw) hopes to furtherdevelop its transport service in 1996 and isexpecting an 80% increase on the main linkswith Germany and Italy. Under the conditionthat political framework for the developmentof combined transport will improve Polkombiwould like to start traffic from the Nether-lands, Germany and Italy to Russia via Poland.In the operational field, Polkombi is in theprocess of developing its internal computernetwork.

SKANKOMBI, (Padborg) benefited fromexpansion due to an upturn during the firsthalf of 1995 which, however, weakened duringthe second half of the year. In co-opera-tion with its UIRR partners, Skan Kombideveloped an innovative concept for combinedrail/road transport in Scandinavia. After theopening in mid-1997 of the fixed link of theGreat Belt and of the bridge over the Öresundin the year 2000, the quality/ price ratio willbe the decisive factor, from the customer’s

point of view, in the choice of transport routesbetween Scandinavia and the Continent.

TRAILSTAR, (Rotterdam) can be proud of a30% increase in the field of swap-bodies, whilemaritime containers have been the drivingforce behind the growth and represent, ineffect, the total transport volume of the”Austria Shuttle”. Trailstar has made signifi-cant improvements to its extended range ofproducts, including the ”Holland-VeronaShuttle”. The number of shuttle trains toNovara increased from 6 to 12 per week.Traffic towards Eastern Europe and toScandinavia will also continue to grow. ForTrailstar’s future development very interesting,a new terminal in Born (Limburg), with aninitial capacity of TEU 20.000 has beenopened in September 1996.

T.R.W., (Brussels) ended 1995 with a totaltransport volume lower than that of last year.The reason for this was increased competitionin the wake of the opening of the ChannelTunnel and the strike of the SNCF in the lastquarter. Traffic on all other T.R.W. services hasincreased by 5,3%. The opening of the Genkterminal in 1995 met all expectations andattracted German and Dutch customers inaddition to the Belgian clients. The concept ofShuttle trains was launched successfully, withBrussels and Turin as Gateways for traffic toItaly. Also, various improvements have beenmade in services to Spain, Germany andAustria.

COMPANY REPORTS

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NEWS

A QUARTER OF A CENTURY

On October 23, 1995 the UIRR celebrated its25th anniversary. It was founded in 1970 at theMunich Transport Fair by 5 combined trans-port companies of the EEC that existedat the time (Ferpac-Italy, Kombiverkehr-Germany, Novatrans-France, T.R.W.-Belgiumand Trailstar-Netherlands) and by 3 companiesin the EFTA countries (Hucketrans-Austria,Hupac-Switzerland, ASG-Sweden). Three ofthese companies have since been replaced byanother (Ferpac by Cemat, Hucketrans byÖkombi and ASB by Skan Kombi) and 9 othercompanies have joined since then.

T.R.W. 30TH ANNIVERSARY

The Belgian member company of the UIRRwas founded on 23 February 1965 in Brusselsat the initiative of Belgian road hauliers andnational road associations. Despite the factthat the company is relatively medium-sized,it has succeeded in constantly increasing itstransport volumes.

1996 EUROPEANTRANSPORT PRIZE

The ”1996 European transport prize” wasawarded to Hupac in March 1996 on theoccasion of the ”Eurocargo” Fair held inDusseldorf. The company proved that its for-ward-looking shuttle train concept is perfectlyapplicable at an international level and that itis possible to develop a more rational and

more economic transport chain. All partners,such as the railway companies and the UIRRmembers Kombiverkehr and Cemat, havecontributed to make the Shuttle product a sys-tem which meets the requirements of a mod-ern transport market.

AUTUMN ASSEMBLY IN MADRID

At the initiative of Combiberia, this year’sautumn Assembly and the Annual UIRR-Congress will take place in Madrid onSeptember 19-20. The theme of this Congressis : ”The Iberian Peninsula and CombinedTransport - Cruising Speed in Sight ?”. TheUIRR regards the Iberian peninsula as a verypromising market and the occasion of thisCongress will be seized to openly discuss itsstrategy in view of developing combined trans-port in this geographical area.

PERSONALIA

Since December 1995, Grzegorz Kaczanowskiis the new Chairman of Polkombi. AsManaging Director of ”Polish Forwarding-Spedpol”, one of the founding members ofPolkombi, he has been a member of the Boardof Directors of the latter since its creation.

FRAMEWORK CONDITIONSOF COMBINED TRANSPORT

Within the framework of the PACT programmeof the European Commission,and in co-operation with the”Studiengesellschaft für denKombinierten Verkehr” (SGKV)Frankfurt, the UIRR hascarried out a study on theframework conditions ofcombined transport inEurope. This comparativeanalysis provides informa-tion which encourages thecreation of an environmentfavouring the development ofcombined transport.

”FOCUS ONCOMBINED TRANSPORT”

Better public information is one of the means bywhich the UIRR seeks to create greater interestin the field of combined transport. Thebrochure under reference which has this pur-pose, has been published thanks to partialfunding through the Commission’s PACTprogramme. Originally produced in English,German and French, it has also recently beentranslated into Swedish, Hungarian, Czech,Polish and Slovenian. It can be obtained free ofcharge from UIRR member companies or fromthe head office in Brussels.

UIC STUDY:EXTERNAL EFFECTS OF TRANSPORT

This study, carried out at the request of the UICby IWW (Karlsruhe) and INFRAS (Zurich),describes in detail the criteria for the internaliza-tion of external costs, such as air pollution, noise,transport accidents and congestion, and recom-mends the application of a combination of sever-al policy instruments. It provides a usefulsynopsis of the knowledge acquired in thesefields and constitutes a reference work in thedebate on the allocation of the external costs oftransport to those who generate them, which isa principle on which the Green Paper of theCommission is also based. This study can beobtained in German, English or French from theUIC at the price of 300 FRF.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

In close co-operation with its member compa-nies, the UIRR office in Brussels is working toattract new Combined Transport companiesfrom both inside and outside the EU.Potential candidates are informed of the gen-eral conditions, the advantages of joining theUIRR, etc. One can therefore expect to see anenlargement of the number of associates.

10

TRENDS

INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICUIRR’s overall traffic rose in 1995 thanks tothe growth of its international business. A totalof 970.000 consignments were handled in thissector of activity, representing an increase of14% over 1994. The strike of the FrenchRailways SNCF in November and Decemberaffected the growth in transport volume ofseveral member companies. Under normalcircumstances they would have reached sensa-tional numbers. UIRR’s traffic with EasternEurope developed well as a result of substantialefforts in recent years to create new services.The first full year of the Channel Tunnel oper-ations similarly produced positive results.

NATIONAL TRAFFICLast year’s notable growth in traffic could notbe maintained in 1995. Also here the strike inFrance left its marks. In Germany, an unjusti-fied increase in rail pricing led to a substantialshift back to road transport. As in previousyears, combined transport grew considerably inItaly because of its attractive services. Italy isnow number one in Europe in terms of actualtonne-kilometres due to the relatively longerinner-Italian distances.

TOTAL TRAFFICThe accomplishment of the European internalmarket is also reflected in the development ofUIRR traffic in which international servicesaccount for 60% of the total volume. The aver-age distance in national traffic rose to about700 km as a consequence of the developmentin Italy. In the international sector, the heavilyused rolling motorways led to an equal averagedistance.

TECHNIQUESLast year the break-down of consignments pertechnique shifted slightly: the share of swapbodies dropped by 2% to 67% of all consign-ments, transport by semi-trailers accountedfurther for 14%, while the rolling motorwayincreased its share to reach 19% of total con-signments. The long-term trend towards theswap body remains unbroken. But high growthrates on the rolling motorway have resulted ina rise of the relative share of this technique inpercentage to the consignments. In tonne-kilo-metres this effect is less pronounced.

11

400000

350000

300000

250000

200000

150000

100000

50000

0

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

Kombiverkehr

ÖkombiHupacCematNovatransT.R.W.Hungarokombi

TrailstarCombiberiaSkan Kombi

Adria Kombi

C.T.L.Polkombi

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

350000

300000

250000

200000

150000

100000

50000

00

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

KombiverkehrNovatransCemat

ÖkombiSkan KombiHupac

T.R.W.

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 19950

5

10

15

20

25

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 19950

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%PROPORTION OF PIGGYBACK SYSTEMS

AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL TRAFFIC

Year Semi Rolling Swaptrailers Road bodies

1986 27% 11% 62%1987 27% 12% 61%1988 27% 13% 60%1989 20% 16% 64%1990 20% 18% 62%1991 19% 19% 62%1992 18% 17% 65%1993 16% 16% 68%1994 14% 17% 69%1995 14% 19% 67%

NATIONAL (NAT.) AND INTERNATIONAL (INT.)

TRAFFIC IN MRD. TKM.

Year Int. Nat. Total

1986 6 7 131987 7 7 141988 8 8 161989 9 6 151990 12 7 191991 12 7 191992 13 7 201993 15 7 221994 17 8 251995 18 7 25

Company * Consignments +/- in %1995 **

Kombiverkehr 368.808 22 %Hupac 141.977 11 %Ökombi 128.116 5 %Cemat 94.671 7 %Novatrans 75.584 3 %T.R.W. 61.733 -7 %Hungarokombi 37.205 102 %Trailstar 18.298 31 %Skan Kombi 13.142 8 %Adria Kombi 11.126 10 %C.T.L.*** 9.539 487 %Combiberia 7.371 -47 %Polkombi 1.340 -3 %

Total 968.910 +14 %

Company * Consignments +/- in %1995 **

Kombiverkehr 261.000 -15,7 %Cemat 167.000 19,3 %Novatrans 124.329 -6,4 %Ökombi 43.073 -1,6 %Skan Kombi 36.418 0,1 %Hupac 13.954 -3,6 %T.R.W. 680 118,5 %Total 646.454 -4,6 %

* In order to avoid double counting, these statistics only includethe export consignments of the UIRR companies.

** Inthe UIRR statistics, a consingment is the equivalent of anaverage road transport (= +/- 2,3 TEU).

*** Since the beginning of 1994, only Channel Tunnel traffic hasbeen taken into account.

Total

National

International

Swap bodies

Rolling Road

Semi trailers

SPAIN COMBIBERIA Tel: (+34) 1 / 314.98.99c/ Rafael Herrera, 11; 3°, Pta 308 Fax: (+34) 1 / 314.93.47E - 28036 Madrid

GREAT-BRITAIN C.T.L. Tel: (+ 44) 171 / 355.46.56179/180 Piccadilly Fax: (+ 44) 171 / 629.57.14UK - London W1V 9DB Tlx : 88.38.36

ITALY CEMAT Tel: (+ 39) 2 / 66.89.52.49Via Valtellina 5-7 Fax: (+ 39) 2 / 66.80.07.55I - 20159 Milano Tlx : 33.00.40

UIRR UIRR Tel: (+ 32) 2 / 425.47.93International Union of Combined Avenue du Port, 100 / bte 3 Fax: (+ 32) 2 / 425.38.27Road-Rail Transport Companies B - 1000 Bruxelles

SLOVENIA ADRIA KOMBI Tel: (+ 386) 61 / 131.01.57Tivolska 50 Fax: (+ 386) 61 / 131.01.54SLO - 61000 Ljubljana Tlx: 31418

SWITZERLAND HUPAC Tel: (+ 41) 91 / 695.29.00Viale R. Manzoni 6 Fax: (+ 41) 91 / 683.26.61CH - 6830 Chiasso Tlx : 84.20.42

FRANCE NOVATRANS Tel: (+ 33) 1 / 53.42.54.4621, Rue du Rocher Fax: (+ 33) 1 / 43.87.24.98F - 75365 Paris Cédex 08 Tlx : 28.56.25

POLAND POLKOMBI Tel: (+ 48) 22 / 619.13.69ul. Targowa 74 Fax: (+ 48) 22 / 619.32.18PL - 03-734 Warszawa Tlx: 81.24.89

SCANDINAVIA SKAN KOMBI Tel: (+ 45) 74.67.41.81Thorsvej 8 Fax: (+ 45) 74.67.08.98DK - 6330 Padborg Tlx : 526.70

BELGIUM T.R.W. Tel: (+ 32) 2 / 421.12.10Avenue du Port, 100 / bte 1 Fax: (+ 32) 2 / 425.59.59B - 1000 Bruxelles

CZECH REPUBLIC BOHEMIAKOMBI Tel: (+ 42) 2 / 24.24.15.75 - 79Opletalova 6 Fax: (+ 42) 2 / 24.24.15.80CZ - 113 76 Praha 1

HUNGARY HUNGAROKOMBI Tel: (+36) 1 / 266.08.48Szilagyi Dezso tér 1 Fax: (+36) 1 / 266.08.49H - 1011 Budapest Tlx: 22.42.49

GERMANY KOMBIVERKEHR Tel: (+ 49) 69 / 79.50.50Postfach 93 01 05 Fax: (+ 49) 69 / 70.87.58D - 60456 Frankfurt/Main Tlx : 41.63.99

AUSTRIA ÖKOMBI Tel: (+ 43) 1 / 331.560Taborstraße 95 Fax: (+ 43) 1 / 331.56.300A - 1200 Wien Tlx : 133.295

PORTUGAL PORTIF Tel: (+ 351) 1 / 52.35.77Avenue Sidonio Pais, 4-4° - P.3 Fax: (+ 351) 1 / 315.36.13P - 1000 Lisboa

NETHERLANDS TRAILSTAR Tel: (+ 31) 10 / 495.25.22Albert Plesmanweg, 151 Fax: (+ 31) 10 / 428.05.98NL - 3088 GC Rotterdam