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Transports Overwiew No. 58

Transports Overwiew No. 58

31/07/12

A unique overview by the Centre d’analyse stratégique written by Christine Raynard, Department of Sustainable Development.

1) The Russian railway company plans to increase freight transportation to Asia as part of a railway path from Europe through Russia.

The European Commission supports this trans-Siberian line, provided that it is double tracked, electrified with technical requirements and has a unified security system.

The Germans have already committed to this project. Indeed, the transportation and logistics subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (DB Schenker) already supplies a BMW plant in China from Germany. The convoy uses 23 days for the 11,000 km journey, which is half the time it takes for a boat to get there. DB Schenker's objective is to cut half of the time.

There is currently a strong potential for this project since 95% of goods from Asia to Europe are transported by sea.

2) Meanwhile, the Russian railway announced a plan to create a joint venture between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.  Its objective is to develop the rail transportation of containers between China and Europe.

The three railway partners have agreed to establish a single legal basis in the European Economic Area (EEA) within the transport sector which was introduced on May 31st 2012. The three countries will participate equally in terms of commitment and profit.

The new company will offer stable prices for unified services while improving and harmonizing the technical control systems within the three countries.

3) The Dutch railway and the regional transportation companies Veolia and Syntus will test a new pricing system starting September 2012. People traveling in peak hours will be reimbursed a portion of their fare, or 3 to 7 euros depending on the distance traveled. The test will run for four months and the maximum amount paid will be 600 euros. Participants will indicate their hours of travel on their smartphones. The project will involve 3,000 travelers with annual transportation passes in the regions Arnhem-Nijmegen, Roermond-Maastricht, Amsterdam and the provinces Overijssel and Gelderland.

If the trial is successful, it could eventually be extended to the entire Dutch railway network.

4) Since early July, cars can be rented for a symbolic euro in France through the Internet platform "DriiveMe". This site lets individuals repatriate cars they’ve borrowed. Currently, the company uses trucks to transport cars and rebalance their fleets.

The dates are imposed and insurance is included. As for the tolls and gas, they can either be included in the price or be the responsibility of the driver. The only requirement is to have had a driver's license for at least one year. The user can also create an alert that notifies and indicates proposed routes.

During the summer, DriiveMe is testing this system in the west of France and is considering launching it throughout the country in September 2012.

Such a scheme already exists and works well in Australia.Such a scheme already exists and works well in Australia.

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