scholarly journals Noise Related Rail Access Charges in Europe: Aspects of Interoperability and Competitiveness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Bucsky
Keyword(s):  
Freight Transport ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Network Access ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Braking System ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
Access Charges ◽  
Freight Market

Noise reduction of rail transport in Europe is an important step toward enhancing quality of life. According to the estimation of the European Environment Agency 14 million people are affected by rail noise in the European Union. Since the 1990s numerous measures have been taken by legislators but in practice noise levels did not lowered significantly. The changing regulations and upgraded standards have direct costs on rail freight transport and it is affecting its competitiveness. Some key countries in the European rail freight transport – Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands – have already introduced Noise Differentiated Track Access Charges (NDTAC), which makes higher noise traffic more expensive, and encourages wagon owners to invest in low noise braking systems. Railway undertakings will face higher costs either due to higher network access charges or due to higher costs of low noise braking system. The higher costs will affect the competitiveness of rail freight transport compared to other modes of transport. Furthermore, the diverse regulation of European countries will restrict the interoperability and selective funding favors local corporations and can reduce competition. The aim of this paper is to show the possible effects of the current NDTAC regulation on the European rail freight market.

scholarly journals Principles of Calculation of Track Access Charges in Rail Freight Transport in Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 65-75
Author(s):  
Klaudia Przybylowicz - Ruszala
Keyword(s):  
Direct Costs ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Railway Infrastructure ◽  
Pricing System ◽  
Rail Infrastructure ◽  
Train Services ◽  
Access Charges

Non-discriminatory rules for access to the railway infrastructure as well as transparent pricing system are the essential factors of ensuring that the freight transport in Poland is competitive enough. Infrastructure managers pass some categories of their costs (e.g. for maintaining of railway infrastructure) on railway undertakings in the form of access charges verified andaccepted by the Polish regulatory body. In general, approximately one – third of their costs shall be paid by railway undertakings. Given that access charges are treated as one of the most important factors for both railway undertakings and railway infrastructure man-agers. The aim of this article is to review the main principles of calculation of track access charges in rail freight transport in Poland. The article refers to the judgment of the Court of Justice, which stated that Poland failed to properly implement the direct cost principle in the meaning of directive 2001/14/EC. The direct costs principle expressed in article 7(3) of the Directive means that only the direct costs incurred as a result of operating the train services can be taken into account by the rail infrastructure managerwhen setting infrastructure access charges.

scholarly journals China – European Union rail freight traffic: slow growth despite media spotlight

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 123-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bucsky
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Slow Growth ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Data ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Freight Traffic

The Chinese Silk Road concept is attracting more and more attention. It involves (geo)politics, economics, infrastructure and transport development. The idea of faster transport of goods overland via Central-Asia by rail between Europe and China has become very popular, but there has been little attention devoted to the fact that the possibility of direct European Union-China rail freight transport has already existed for decades. This article examines statistical data about the rail traffic between the European Union and China and seeks to provide an answer to the question, what can be the realistic future of this transport connection? Trade data suggests that despite the growth in rail freight transport, this mode will be marginal for the transport links between China and Europe

scholarly journals Innovations on rail freight market

2021 ◽  
pp. 103-113
Author(s):  
Dora Naletina ◽  
Mate Damić
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Transportation Network ◽  
Freight Transportation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Passenger Traffic ◽  
Road Freight ◽  
Road Freight Transportation ◽  
Freight Market

Ten years ago, the European Union recognized the importance of stopping further development of road freight transportation and the need for making rail freight a more prominent branch of industry. Rail transportation used to hold a more relevant position, but because of slow response to changes on the market and no investments in modernization, it now occupies only around 10% of the share in freight transportation in most EU member states. Most members have initiated the implementation of the restructuring and liberalization of rail market, with the aim of establishing a multimodal transportation network and reducing negative impact of road freight on the environment. The Croatian market is no exception, of course. It has liberalized the rail freight market since the Accession to the EU, while the rail passenger traffic is still monopolized by a company owned by the state. The Croatian national carrier HŽ Cargo has decided to face the competition by restructuring the current business and giving a sharper focus on innovation (intermodal terminals, RO-LA, and digitalization of business operations). The above-mentioned topics are analysed in the following chapter.

scholarly journals Problems of Access to Services at Railway Stations in Freight Transport in the Slovak Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 8018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Brumercikova ◽  
Adrian Sperka
Keyword(s):  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Multicriteria Analysis ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Access To Services ◽  
Railway Stations ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Freight Market

The article deals with the issue of access of freight carriers to services in railway stations. With the liberalization of the rail freight market, the number of carriers is gradually increasing. In this situation, infrastructure capacity is often insufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to set the order of access to services in railway stations. The article will use the process of analytical hierarchy as one of many methods of multicriteria analysis. Four important indicators will be selected for carriers: railway stations where the service of stabling tracks can be used, railway stations where rail scales are located, railway stations where it is possible to use the services of a shunting movement from the infrastructure manager, railway stations where the carrier can be using the services of a mobile workshop. At the end of the article, the order of access to these services will be compiled according to the order of importance for railway undertakings. A significant factor will also be an approximate quantification of the performance of individual carriers passing through the selected station.

scholarly journals Qualitative and Quantitative Indicators of Railway Stations

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-20
Author(s):  
Juraj Čamaj ◽  
Lenka Černá ◽  
Adrián Šperka ◽  
Ekaterina Zmeškal
Keyword(s):  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Railway Stations ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Railway Operation ◽  
Quantitative Indicators ◽  
Freight Market

AbstractThe liberalization of the rail freight market has been booming in recent years. On a pan-European scale, new freight carriers are increasing year after year. Support for the liberalization of the railway sector is mainly implemented through the so-called railway packages and one of the tools is the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the individual railway stations. The relevance of the article is mainly to propose measures for railway stations, where freight transport is declining despite the liberalized market. These are main railway stations located on regional lines and railway stations with a smaller scope of transport work. The aim of this paper will be to propose measures to support freight transport in the Slovak Republic by setting minimum requirements (standards) for railway stations depending on their performance, respecting their current technical level of railway operation.

Impacts of Environmental Regulation on Sustainable Economic Growth

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 749-773
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Environmental Regulation ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Environmental Regulations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Porter Hypothesis ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth

There is considerable concern and debate about the economic impacts of environmental regulations. Jonathan Fisher, former Economics Manager at the Environment Agency in England and Wales, reviews the available evidence on this subject. Section 2 presents estimates of the costs and benefits of environmental regulations. Section 3 examines the impacts of environmental regulations on economic growth, innovation and technical change as well as impacts on competitiveness and any movement of businesses to less pollution havens. He questions call for greater certainty regarding future environmental regulations, whereas in fact there should be calls for less uncertainty. This section then suggests how this could be achieved. This section then finishes with an overview of the available evidence. This includes an examination of the Porter Hypothesis that environmental regulations can trigger greater innovation that may partially or more than fully offset the compliance costs. Section 4 then sets out principles for how better environmental regulation can improve its impacts on sustainable economic growth and illustrates how the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive is a good example of the application of these principles in practice. Section 5 reviews current and recent political perspectives regarding developments in environmental regulations across the EU and shows how the United Kingdom (UK) has successfully positively managed to influence such developments so that EU environmental regulations now incorporate many of these principles to improve their impacts on economic growth. Section 5.1 then examines the implications of Brexit for UK environmental regulations. Finally, Section 6 sets out some best practice principles to improve the impacts of environmental regulation on sustainable economic growth, innovation and technical change.

Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Frischhut
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
And Control

This chapter discusses the most important features of EU law on infectious diseases. Communicable diseases not only cross borders, they also often require measures that cross different areas of policy because of different vectors for disease transmission. The relevant EU law cannot be attributed to one sectoral policy only, and thus various EU agencies participate in protecting public health. The key agency is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Other important agencies include the European Environment Agency; European Food Safety Authority; and the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency. However, while integration at the EU level has facilitated protection of the public's health, it also has created potential conflicts among the different objectives of the European Union. The internal market promotes the free movement of products, but public health measures can require restrictions of trade. Other conflicts can arise if protective public health measures conflict with individual human rights. The chapter then considers risk assessment and the different tools of risk management used in dealing with the challenges of infectious diseases. It also turns to the external and ethical perspective and the role the European Union takes in global health.

A European scale monitoring system to assess water quality of multi-national river basins in the accession countries

2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Fehér ◽  
A. Lázár
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Environmental Assessments ◽  
Data Collecting ◽  
Accession Countries ◽  
Catchment Size ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
Collecting System

In the middle of the 1990s the European Environment Agency (EEA) started to develop a data collecting system for surface and subsurface water resources for assessing pressures, states and impacts on European water resources. The main objective of this system was to provide reliable, comparable, homogenous information, and support integrated environmental assessments at European level. The data collecting system for water is called Eurowaternet. The extent and information content of the network makes not only pan-European, but also regional or thematic environmental assessments possible. An extensive programme started in 1997 to support the Phare countries in their accession to the EU with implementation of this data collecting system in their countries. The paper briefly introduces the methodology of the system, but it focuses more on the application of the system in the accession countries, highlighting, through examples, the usefulness of the implemented network and assembled database. The examples present - among several other possible ones - trends of average nutrient concentrations; relationships between catchment size and annual average nutrient concentrations; relationships between catchment size and agricultural usage.

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