Introduction The total demand for freight transport in Europe has increased significantly in recent decades, but most of it has been handled by road transport. To fulfil the modal shift targets set in the EU White Paper 2011, it will be necessary to double rail’s market share from today’s 18 %, by 2050. Translating this into reality means rail will have to handle 3 to 4 times the cargo volume it does today. With this in mind, the paper develops a vision of an efficient rail freight system in 2050. Methodology To achieve the above objective, the research applies literature survey and group discussion methodology and applying a system approach. Keeping on board the EU Transport White Paper 2011 modal shift targets, as well as future freight demand and customer requirements, the current research attempts to answer the following three critical questions: How can rail offer the quality of service that will attract customers and fulfil the targets? How can rail offer its customers a price that is competitive with road? How can rail offer the capacity to meet the increased demand from modal shift? Results The authors find that the service quality can be improved by better planning, application of appropriate ICT-systems and adoption of an integrated supply chain approach. A more customer-orientated service can also be achieved by further deregulation of rail. There is also an urgent need for a faster implementation of Rail Freight Corridors (RFC). As well as liner trains, future rail freight services should be offering end-point trains, with semi/ fully automated loading/unloading equipment in hub-terminals, as well as terminals at sidings to improve the availability of intermodal operation. Conclusion To offer a competitive price and reliable service, a reduction in operating costs will be vital by implementing a number of measures, including operation of heavier and longer trains, wider loading gauge, higher average speed, and better utilisation of wagon space and all assets. This will bring increased capacity, as well as better timetable planning, signalling systems and infrastructure improvements.

Worldwide the transport sector faces several issues related to the rising of traffic demand such as congestion, energy consumption, noise, pollution, safety, etc. Trying to stem the problem, the European Commission is encouraging a modal shift towards railway, considered as one of the key factors for the development of a more sustainable European transport system. The coveted increase in railway share of transport demand for the next decades and the attempt to open up the rail market (for freight, international and recently also local services) strengthen the attention to capacity usage of the system. This contribution proposes a synthetic methodology for the capacity and utilisation analysis of complex interconnected rail networks; the procedure has a dual scope since it allows both a theoretically robust examination of suburban rail systems and a solid approach to be applied, with few additional and consistent assumptions, for feasibility or strategic analysis of wide networks (by efficiently exploiting the use of Big Data and/or available Open Databases). In particular the approach proposes a schematization of typical elements of a rail network (stations and line segments) to be applied in case of lack of more detailed data; in the authors’ opinion the strength points of the presented procedure stem from the flexibility of the applied synthetic methods and from the joint analysis of nodes and lines. The article, after building a quasi-automatic model to carry out several analyses by changing the border conditions or assumptions, even presents some general abacuses showing the variability of capacity/utilization of the network’s elements in function of basic parameters. This has helped in both the presented case studies: one focuses on a detailed analysis of the Naples’ suburban node, while the other tries to broaden the horizon by examining the whole European rail network with a more specific zoom on the Belgium area. The first application shows how the procedure can be applied in case of availability of fine-grained data and for metropolitan/regional analysis, allowing a precise detection of possible bottlenecks in the system and the individuation of possible interventions to relieve the high usage rate of these elements. The second application represents an on-going attempt to provide a broad analysis of capacity and related parameters for the entire European railway system. It explores the potentiality of the approach and the possible exploitation of different ‘Open and Big Data’ sources, but the outcomes underline the necessity to rely on proper and adequate information; the accuracy of the results significantly depend on the design and precision of the input database. In conclusion, the proposed methodology aims to evaluate capacity and utilisation rates of rail systems at different geographical scales and according to data availability; the outcomes might provide valuable information to allow efficient exploitation and deployment of railway infrastructure, better supporting policy (e.g. investment prioritization, rail infrastructure access charges) and helping to minimize costs for users. The presented case studies show that the method allows indicative evaluations on the use of the system and comparative analysis between different elementary components, providing a first identification of ‘weak’ links or nodes for which, then, specific and detailed analyses should be carried out, taking into account more in depth their actual configuration, the technical characteristics and the real composition of the traffic (i.e. other elements influencing the rail capacity, such as: the adopted operating systems, the station traffic/route control & safety system, the elastic release of routes, the overlap of block sections, etc.).

This paper presents a simulation-based analysis of hybrid and plug-in hybrid propulsion system concepts for diesel-electric multiple unit regional railway vehicles. These alternative concepts primarily aim to remove emissions in terminal stops with longer stabling periods, with additional benefits reflected in the reduction of overall fuel consumption, produced emissions, and monetary costs. The alternative systems behavior is modeled using a backward-looking quasi-static simulation approach, with the implemented energy management strategy based on a finite state machine control. A comparative assessment of alternative propulsion systems is carried out in a case study of a selected regional railway line operated by Arriva, the largest regional railway undertaking in the Netherlands. The conversion of a standard diesel-electric multiple unit vehicle, currently operating on the network, demonstrated a potential GHG reduction of 9.43–56.92% and an energy cost reduction of 9.69–55.46%, depending on the type of service (express or stopping), energy storage technology selection (lithium-ion battery or double-layer capacitor), electricity production (green or grey electricity), and charging facilities configuration (charging in terminal stations with or without additional charging possibility during short intermediate stops) used. As part of a bigger project aiming to identify optimal transitional solutions towards emissions-free trains, the outcomes of this study will help in the future fleet planning.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has implemented a series of increasingly stricter regulations to reduce sulphur emissions from international shipping. As of January 2020, the global sulphur cap requires the use of fuel containing a maximum of 0.5% sulphur content, or the use of technology achieving a similar reduction in sulphur emissions. Deciding between fuel switching or investing in abatement technologies has been a recurring topic for research in the last decade, with a focus on shipping activities within Emission Control Areas (ECAs). The quest for the desulphurization of shipping results in higher operating costs as well as CO₂ emissions. We estimate the economic and environmental impacts of compliance with sulphur limits for a variety of representative ship types. This paper quantitatively assesses case studies across the most important shipping sectors highlighting their different challenges. The results confirm that scrubber investments are more profitable at times of higher fuel prices, and for ships that spend relatively more time sailing. We show that the potential for speed differentiation inside and outside ECAs has been diminished. This framework can be a useful decision support system for selecting the best response amongst different compliance options to environmental regulations.

This paper concentrates on organising, planning and managing the train movement in a network. The three classic management levels for rail planning, i.e., strategic, tactical and operational, are introduced followed by decision support systems for rail traffic control. In addition, included in this paper are discussions on train operating forms, railway traffic control and train dispatching problems, rail yard technical schemes and performance of terminals, as well as timetable design. A description of analytical methods, simulation techniques and specific computer packages for analysing and evaluating the behaviour of rail systems and networks is also provided. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd