International Railway Journal - January 2008 - (Page 20) Eastern Europe Are track access fees strangling CEE railfreight? Railfreight operators in central and eastern Europe fear high track access charges are thwarting a modal shift from road to rail. Keith Barrow examines the costs and implications. T HE years following the end of communism in Eastern Europe were a tough time for railfreight, as the collapse of heavy industries caused volumes to plummet. Nonetheless, rail generally retains a much higher market share in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) states than in Western Europe, largely because the road network has not yet developed to the same extent. In Latvia rail boasts a market share of 70% and even in larger markets such as Poland and Hungary, rail claims 30% and 27% respectively. In 1995, road freight accounted for 1250 billion tonne-km across the 25 countries that now make up the European Union. By 2005 this had reached 1725 billion tonne-km. Railfreight also witnessed growth, rising from 358 billion tonne-km in 1995 ZSSK Cargo says the high cost of track access fees is the biggest obstacle to the development of railfreight in Slovakia. Photo: Quintus Vosman
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