AS the railway continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, 2024 will be fundamental in understanding the mode’s future trajectory by setting the baseline for a strong recovery and increasing its modal share. Continuing efforts to decarbonise the transport sector place rail in a strong position to take market share away from other modes of transport both for passenger and freight movements.

However, there are several challenges to achieving this objective. In passenger transport strong action needs to be taken to incentivise the shift of journeys to rail by enticing passengers to switch away from private road transport and from aviation for short to medium-distance journeys. Post-pandemic initiatives such as those in France to cut short-haul aviation in favour of long-distance rail to reduce emissions from transport will be introduced in other countries in 2024 to reap similar benefits.

While policy initiatives such as these are commendable, they also need to be matched by investment in railway infrastructure to provide the additional capacity needed to handle more traffic and meet increasing demand. Similar investment is needed to offer a passenger experience that can match or even surpass that of the aviation sector.

In this framework, member states participating in the work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) have recently adopted a major modification to the European Agreement on Main International Railway Lines (AGC) - the key rail agreement administered by UNECE.

The amendment aims to identify a number of international rail passenger hubs across the UNECE area where passengers would be provided with a minimum set of common technical parameters and services. The objective is to offer the same level of comfort for people arriving at an international railway station as an international airport terminal, helping to reduce the uncertainty around using rail for cross-border travel. This work will be supplemented by new activity in 2024 aimed at trying to harmonise passenger information at stations, which should further stimulate passenger rail use.

China - Europe rail freight traffic has increased significantly in recent years, even when considering the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, reaching more than 400,000 TEUs in 2022.

In the rail freight sector, there are many barriers to the effective cross-border transport of goods. The largest of these is found in the lack of harmonisation and interoperability between networks. However, administrative challenges are another key obstacle.

Encouragingly, member states have just adopted a new UN Convention that will unify the legal system for the carriage of freight between Europe and Asia and 2024 will see the opening for signature of the Convention on the Contract for International Carriage of Goods by Rail. Until now, rail freight from Asia to Europe has not been covered by a single uniform legislative system, putting rail at a disadvantage compared with other modes. For example, road transport is subject to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR); maritime transport is covered by the Hague Visby Rules; and air traffic covered by the Montreal Convention.

China - Europe rail freight traffic has increased significantly in recent years, even when considering the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, reaching more than 400,000 TEUs in 2022. Reducing this administrative burden should stimulate a further increase in traffic by limiting the time spent at borders.

This convention is the first in a system of Unified Railway Law Conventions and further areas of potential harmonisation that will be explored in the coming years.

Modal integration

Both passenger and freight rail transport cannot exist in a bubble. Rail is a fundamental element of the transport chain, but only one of the elements. For rail to continue growing in 2024 integration with other modes must be improved. UNECE activities aim to support intermodal transport and facilitate the development of a regulatory framework through the modernisation of the European Agreement on Important International Combined Transport Lines and Related Installations, the sister infrastructure agreement to the AGC. The objective is to provide a combined transport network to facilitate the movement of containers across the continent with rail acting as the backbone for long-distance journeys.

Investment is also desperately needed in rail infrastructure across the world.

All this requires investment. 2024 will also see the entry into force of the Luxembourg Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. As an important implementing element of the protocol, UNECE adopted the Model Rules for the Permanent Identification of Railway Rolling Stock in February 2023, which provides the conditions by which rolling stock financed under the Luxembourg Rail Protocol can be marked. It is expected that the protocol and the model rules will have a positive effect on investment in rolling stock, making it more affordable for buyers across the globe.

Investment is also desperately needed in rail infrastructure across the world. Crucially, this is not limited to big-ticket items such as new high-speed lines. 2024 is the year where investment needs to target quick wins that reduce speed restrictions and increase capacity across the network.

Work currently underway within the framework of the Trans-European Railway (TER) Project at UNECE emphasises the gap that many Eastern European countries must cross to achieve the infrastructure parameters enshrined in the AGC. Yet some smaller-scale investment in infrastructure along these routes can have a significant impact on improving capacity and services made available to operators and ultimately users.

Funding for these investments needs to come both from national and international sources. The various entities involved will need to coordinate their activities to ensure that the funding provided is complementary to the infrastructure demands and the needs of key policy decisions.

The activities of UNECE in the rail sector continue to bring together member states and industry players from across the UNECE area and beyond with the aim of coordinating the development of the rail sector to improve efficiency and make it the mode of choice. The renewal of efforts in the areas mentioned above in 2024 will be matched by member states’ activities on rail safety, productivity and market reform, emphasising the key role that rail plays in decarbonisation and helping member states achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.