Across Europe, railway undertakings and operators are facing severe capacity restrictions to infrastructure due to growing combination of last-minute changes to closure of lines, lack or low quality of alternative routes, simultaneous works and poor cross-border coordination. The result is an interrupted rail network that is becoming increasingly difficult to operate reliably and increasingly difficult for customers to trust. This is no longer an operational problem for railway undertakings. It is a threat to European supply chains, industrial competitiveness, the Single Market and Europe's ambition to shift freight from road to rail. Europe needs to act now!
ERFA proposes four Actions which will determine whether customers will be using rail tomorrow!
There is an urgent need to consider the users of the network, especially at this time of the year, where closures and restrictions are even more numerous (see non-exhaustive list of recent closures in ANNEX and represented with red signs on the MAP of the TEN-T network above).
Freight railway undertakings fully recognise that works along the rail infrastructure to maintain the performance of the network, upgrade equipment and structure, or electrify lines are indispensable, especially after several decades of underinvestment. However, the way the works are planned and delivered is becoming unsustainable. Europe needs infrastructure investments that do not destroy the services they are supposed to strengthen.
The rail freight sector is under pressure to deliver more reliable, punctual and client-friendly services in a highly competitive environment with other modes. Instead, it is now fighting for its very survival as many RUs are experiencing difficult operational and financial situation, with some risking to become bankrupt. There is a limit to how much disruption and losses the sector can absorb. That limit has been reached.
The consequences are already visible
1. Operational constraints and reduced train capacity
Unsuitable infrastructure parameters with reduced train length, weight and loading capacity: On some diversionary routes, trains are restricted to a maximum of 1,200 tonnes and 535 metres. Such restrictions directly reduce the amount of freight that can be transported per train.
Some diversionary routes are technically available but cannot provide a viable operational alternative.
Example:
The Romanian section of the Vidin–Golenti–Craiova route is in poor condition, meaning that very few trains could operate and at speeds of only around 30 km/h.
The Bulgarian section of the Vidin–Mezdra route also faces operational constraints due to steep gradients. In the Dimovo–Oreshets section, the gradient reaches 29‰, while in the Dimovo Makresh section it reaches 28‰. These steep gradients also result in speed restrictions, further limiting the operational performance of the route.
The alternative route via Kardam–Negru Voda cannot accommodate intermodal trains due to a maximum weight restriction of 1,000 tonnes. In addition, the section is diesel-operated and subject to speed restrictions, which further limits its suitability for intermodal traffic.
Even where degraded lines can technically be used, restrictions may create additional operational and safety risks.
Longer transit times: In almost all cases, diverting trains increases planned transit times. Longer journeys also reduce the number of trains that can be operated with the same resources.
Additional track access charges: Alternative routes are often significantly longer than the originally allocated path, generating additional track access charges and increasing the cost of rail freight.
2. Additional locomotives, drivers and operational resources for RUs
More locomotives and locomotive drivers: Longer transit times require more locomotives and drivers to maintain the same level of service.
Additional route knowledge requirements: Staff normally assigned to a particular route may require additional training and route knowledge (Streckenkenntnis) before they can operate on diversionary routes.
Different locomotive requirements: Some diversions require locomotive types that are not normally used on the original route. For example, diversions through Germany, France or Romania over non-electrified lines may require diesel traction.
Loss of pre-booked resources: Electric locomotives already booked for the original route cannot be used, and RUs must find diesel locomotives, creating additional costs and operational complexity.
3. Congestion and loss of network capacity
Increased congestion: Diverted freight trains are transferred onto routes that may already be highly overbooked. This creates a cascading effect across the European network, affecting the performance of the diversionary route and other traffic using it.
Allocated train paths become unreliable: Timetabled or assigned paths may no longer be achievable in practice because of increased congestion.
Network capacity cannot be guaranteed: As congestion increases, RUs cannot reliably guarantee the overall capacity or service levels required by their customers.
4. Poor corridor-level coordination
Closures and diversions can be affected simultaneously: A route may be closed while the designated diversionary route is also subject to infrastructure works.
Lack of corridor perspective: Decisions taken independently on different sections of a European freight corridor can result in multiple restrictions occurring at the same time.
Key corridors can effectively be interrupted: When the original route is closed and the alternative route is unavailable, unsuitable or severely congested, there may be no genuinely viable route for freight traffic.
5. Border delays and uncertainty for staff and customers
Border transit times can reach 20 hours.
Drivers may be left waiting for extended periods with little information about when they will be able to continue. This creates concerns about staff wellbeing; concerns about the status and security of cargo; uncertainty for RUs and their customers; additional difficulties in maintaining planned schedules and service commitments.
6. Consequences for strategic industrial supply chains and customers
Supply-chain security is compromised: Unpredictable transit times, capacity restrictions, border delays and unreliable train paths affect all stakeholders along the supply chain.
Key industrial sectors and flows disrupted or forced to reduce production: The steel, automotive and chemical industries, have been directly impacted by disruption on the rail network. Agricultural and cereal flows as well as mineral oil and energy supply have been affected as well.
No alternative solutions at short notice for customers: For many of these flows, alternative transport capacity cannot be mobilised at short notice or at a comparable scale. Prolonged or simultaneous restrictions can therefore affect production schedules, industrial sites, ports and terminals, and ultimately security of supply.
Reliability and credibility are weakened: RUs are increasingly unable to guarantee the service levels promised to customers, even where the disruption is outside their control.
7. Risk of permanent modal shift from rail to road
Freight shifts from rail to road: Customers facing unreliable rail services may move volumes to road. Once customers have established alternative logistics solutions on the road network, it can be difficult to bring those volumes back to rail, directly contradicting the EU's Green Deal and modal-shift objectives.
Some cargo cannot simply be replaced by road: If particular freight cannot be transported by road under equivalent conditions, both the RU and the customer can suffer direct losses.
Europe risks undermining its own rail policy: Infrastructure disruption that makes rail unreliable can therefore produce the opposite of the intended policy outcome.
FOUR actions for Europe that need to be implemented urgently
ACTION 1: Plan infrastructure works around the needs of the network's customers
Infrastructure managers should quickly adopt more client-oriented behaviour. They should consider the impact of planned works and route closures on freight traffic much earlier in the process. For example, concentrate heavy works in low demand periods of the year (August). The Commission and sufficiently funded Regulatory Bodies should verify compliance with the existing legislation. Dialogue between IMs and RUs should be held more regularly. There is a need for a broader understanding that the success of rail is possible only through efficient cooperation among all actors rather than a zero-sum approach that is getting nowhere and weakening all.
ACTION 2: Coordinate closures across borders
Works and closure windows should be coordinated between IMs of neighbouring countries on lines hosting cross-border traffic. Where possible, works should be scheduled sequentially rather than simultaneously to ensure continuity of traffic on European Transport Corridors.
ACTION 3: Compensate Railway Undertakings and rail freight operators
Freight RUs have to bear significant extra costs due to longer alternative routes and subsequent higher TACs while they lose clients due to poor reliability of the network. They should benefit from TAC reduction and dedicated support schemes to compensate for these higher costs. The new State aid Land and Multimodal Transport Guidelines (LMTG) applicable since 30 March 2026 allows such possibility. The new Transport Block Exemption Regulation also exempts some categories of aid from prior notification to the Commission. It includes possibilities linked to external cost reduction.
ACTION 4: Do not wait until 2031!
Rail freight operators and shippers cannot wait until timetable 2031 to see some of the improvements that will hopefully take place with the implementation of the Capacity Regulation (EU) 2026/1184. They cannot wait another five years for meaningful improvements whereas they struggle for their survival and the financial equilibrium of their operators at this very moment. Progress is needed now.
Now is time to act and work together, Infrastructure Managers, Railway Operators, Competent Authorities and Corridors Coordinators, take joint action and make the difference for a resilient rail freight system in Europe.
Relaunch rail freight, do not let it stop!
-1784888672.jpg)