1. Multimodality Year 2018
Platform of Railway Infrastructure Managers in Europe (PRIME)
11th Plenary Meeting, 16 November 2017
DG MOVE

2. Main obstacles to a multimodal transport system
Poor technical and administrative interoperability between countries and modes
Additional costs and risks
Lack of transhipment facilities
No level playing field
Slide 1: Main obstacles to a multimodal transport system
Multimodal transport combines the use of different transport modes, taking advantage of their respective strengths. It improves the environmental performance of the transport system and promotes a better use of the available capacity. Multimodality is therefore a means to more sustainable mobility.
But multimodality faces a number of obstacles which we should strive to remove: poor technical and administrative interoperability between countries and modes; additional costs and risks inherent to multimodal transport operations; lack of transhipment facilities in certain geographical areas; and last but not least, absence of a ‘polluter pays’ approach that establishes a level playing field between modes.
The 2018 ‘Multimodality Year’, will raise awareness on the importance of multimodality and pull together a series of policy initiatives and events aiming at promoting the functioning of the transport sector as a fully integrated ‘system’.
Mobility and
Transport

3. Why EU action? To make better use of existing capacities
To provide greater redundancy and resilience of the transport network
To foster additional efforts in transport to meet COP21 targets
Slide 2: Need for EU action
The political context is becoming increasingly demanding, making multimodality a 'must'; important aspects are:
a) limited resources and public acceptance for new infrastructure, which requires better use of existing capacities in all transport modes;
b) growing security concerns, calling for greater redundancy/resilience of the transport network;
c) the Paris agreement on climate, demanding additional efforts in transport.
The “political costs” of action are also decreasing, thanks to favourable technological developments. The digital layer is a key enabler for connecting, managing and monitoring intelligently the physical components of the transport system, in return facilitating mobility as a service and supply chain management.
Mobility and
Transport

4. Planned activities in 2018 Key areas will be Accompanying events
Digitalisation (electronic transport documents; digital corridor information systems)
Infrastructure (multimodal – physical and digital; CEF II)
Economic incentives (Combined Transport Directive; Internalisation of external Costs)
Accompanying events
Slide 3: Planned activities in 2018
Key thematic areas will be
Digitalisation (with a focus on electronic transport documents and digital corridor information systems based on a common data layer)
Infrastructure (support for multimodal, physical and digital infrastructures in particular in the context of the CEF II proposal)
Economic incentives (e.g. the revision of the Combined Transport Directive and the internalisation of external costs)
The multimodal year would give us the opportunity to advance some legislative and/or policy files, in particular the revision of the Combined Transport Directive; the ‘internalisation of external costs’ which is a potentially great facilitator for multimodality and a more balanced use of the transport modes; and the establishment of a framework for passenger rights in multimodal journeys.
Throughout the year there will be in addition a number of events, either tailor-made such as a High-level Ministerial Conference together with the BG Presidency on March in Sofia; or we will piggy-back on events like the TRA conference on April in Vienna and the TEN-T days on April in Ljubljana.
Mobility and
Transport

5. Combined Transport Directive
Recent proposal for an amendment of the Combined Transport Directive as part of the 2nd wave of the Mobility Package
To further stimulate the uptake of the Directive by eliminating ambiguities and re-enforcing enforcement and incentives
Slide 4: Multimodality and the amendment of the Combined transport Directive (optional)
DG MOVE made a proposal for an amendment of the Combined Transport Directive on 8 November as part of the 2nd wave of the Mobility Package. The initiative supports inter alia rail-road combined transport and should allow for an improved competitive position for combined transport, as compared to road-only transport.
The amendment aims at further stimulating the uptake of the Directive, and hence the increase of modal shift through "combined transport", by clarifying the definition of "combined transport" and the eligibility conditions for support measures, by improving enforcement of the Directive (simpler proof of eligibility through e-documents) and increasing the effectiveness of the economic support measures (notably through an extension to terminal investment measures).
Mobility and
Transport

6. THANK YOU