Text file: 1958.txt
author: planika
downvotes: 4
end consideration date: 2011-08-06
id: '1958'
number comments: 15
number views: 4957
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Transport\nThe proposal to introduce compulsory\
  \ transport for trucks transiting Slovenia is not new and has been submitted for\
  \ consideration several times, not only by citizens. The last time such a proposal\
  \ was forwarded to the Ministry of Transport was in June 2007 for the Prekmurje\
  \ area during the construction of the motorway.\nThe idea and desire to divert freight\
  \ from roads to other modes of transport is also addressed in EU and EU transport\
  \ policy. There is also an EU programme called Marco Polo, which aims to promote\
  \ and encourage intermodal transport, including rail transport.\nThe possibility\
  \ of introducing compulsory transport of trucks in transit through Slovenia by rail\
  \ has been considered several times by the Ministry of Transport, but with the accession\
  \ of the Republic of Slovenia to the EU, the liberalisation of transport has been\
  \ introduced, which does not allow any restrictions on road transport, with the\
  \ exception of restrictions on heavy goods vehicles during holidays and weekends,\
  \ which is covered by the Ordinance on the Limitation of Traffic on Roads in the\
  \ Republic of Slovenia. It follows from this situation that the only way to divert\
  \ freight from roads to rail is to provide adequate rail infrastructure and thus\
  \ increase the competitiveness of rail transport.\nThe use of rail transport in\
  \ Slovenia is only partly a transport policy matter, but increasingly it depends\
  \ on economic parameters which are not the most favourable for rail transport. Since\
  \ there are no technical or administrative barriers to road transport, the only\
  \ practical constraint and thus competitive advantage of rail transport is the time\
  \ taken by a road haulier to transport a lorry across Slovenia, which can be taken\
  \ into account as a compulsory rest period. Carriers will only use rail if the conditions\
  \ offered suit them, including the price, which in the current economic conditions\
  \ is higher than for road transport (the external costs of road transport are not\
  \ fully included in the transport price).\nThe possibility of introducing rail services\
  \ and ensuring a regular timetable is linked to investments in terminals, lines\
  \ and rolling stock. The development of one terminal is estimated at around half\
  \ a million euro and includes a sufficiently long straight loading and unloading\
  \ track (min. 700 m), a handling area with a ramp for loading/unloading, access\
  \ routes for road vehicles, parking facilities to hold freight vehicles before loading,\
  \ working and living quarters for railway workers, and sanitary and living quarters\
  \ for drivers. The number of terminals is linked to the decision on which directions\
  \ should be covered by rail traffic.\nThe railway undertaking must also be adequately\
  \ equipped to carry out regular lorry services. The introduction of two trains would\
  \ require 50 special low-floor wagons. The rental of one wagon is around EUR 80/day.\
  \ The annual cost of hiring 50 wagons would be around \u20AC1.5 million, bearing\
  \ in mind that one train set can only transport 25 lorries with trailers in one\
  \ journey. The number of trains depends on the number of trucks and the duration\
  \ of the journey, as well as the spare capacity on the line.\nIn 2010, a study was\
  \ commissioned by the Ministry of Transport: \"Study on the development of rail\
  \ transport in the Republic of Slovenia (Transport Institute Ljubljana, July 2010)\"\
  \ for the purpose of preparing the National Programme for the Development of Public\
  \ Railway Infrastructure, which is in the final stage of preparation and also places\
  \ particular emphasis on the increased introduction of intermodal transport. The\
  \ construction of infrastructure and facilities for the transport of freight by\
  \ rail is not defined as a separate activity in the National Programme, but is systematically\
  \ integrated into the modernisation of the rail network, for the reason and assessment\
  \ that rail transport is one of the future complementary measures for solving the\
  \ problem of freight transit transport. This transport policy and investment orientation\
  \ is intended to develop sustainable mobility that preserves the environment and\
  \ enables economic progress. This approach will provide the basis for a permanent\
  \ modal shift from heavy road freight to rail, which is also in line with European\
  \ and Slovenian transport policy."
response date: 2011-08-26
response due date: null
sent date: 2011-07-06
title: Compulsory rail freight trains
upvotes: 28
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/1958
