Citation

Knoflacher H. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Pt. F J. Rail Rapid Transit 2001; 215(1): 45-51.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1243/0954409011530612

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Managing transit freight traffic across the Alps was an important source of income for the regional population for several hundred years. The introduction of technical transport systems, first railway followed by car and truck, changed the situation radically. No more stops were necessary and therefore the positive economic effects from transit traffic for the local alpine population were lost. The benefits moved to big economic structures outside the alpine regions. Noise and air pollution from uncontrolled growth of truck traffic in narrow alpine valleys had negative effects on quality of life as well as on tourism. Resistance against transit freight traffic through the Alps therefore has an economic background too.
To shift goods from road to rail, a toll on haulage charge over the Brenner route was introduced. Harmonization with European rules removed this financial barrier by about 90 per cent. Improvements of rail infrastructure, like the bypass of Innsbruck, have no effect on the modal split. Also, the eco-point system is not an effective instrument as it is not obeyed by the relevant neighbours in the European Union (EU). Road transport is therefore not only faster and simpler but also much cheaper than rail. Effective measures must be introduced to reach the desired goals, especially as these are also officially declared goals of the EU commission. A night-time ban for trucks, a better management on the rail network (not only in the Alps, but in the whole of Europe) and a substantial increase in costs for road freight transport will be necessary. If the alpine freight transit problem is not reduced by politicians, it is very likely that the local population will increasingly block the north-south traffic on the road.

Language: en