Press release

A better understanding of customer requirements needs to be matched by customers understanding the constraints of rail. This is one of the messages that came from a seminar organised by the European Shippers’ Council at the SITL Europe logistics exhibition on 11th March in Paris.

With representatives from Deutsch Bahn Intermodal, SNCF Fret, Rail Link and Veolia, two rail freight customers from Ciments Calcia and Sabic, and the European freight forwarders’ association CLECAT, ESC challenged service providers and customers to offer their thoughts as to how rail freight might better inspire customers to use rail more.

Clearly, competition is growing and their were good examples of a more proactive rail freight sector taking shape, but improvements were not yet universal. Henk Schaafstal, Sabic’s Manager Supply Chain Engineering, commented that shippers needed to ‘take control’ if they wanted a rail freight service that suited their needs. Denis Schoumert, Purchasing and Logistics Manager for Ciments Calcia agreed that it tended not to be the rail freight operators who come to the shipper with the solutions.

Denis Paillat, Deputy Director of Veolia, countered with the realisation that rail services cannot be established so quickly if paths and access need to be arranged. This was supported by Luc Nadal, DG Adjoint Operations SNCF Fret, and by Eric Demonsant, DG RAILLINK Europe who remarked on the lack of volume commitment by shippers; but Uwe Bakosh, Executive Vice President Network Management of Corridors, DB Intermodal, intervened to demonstrate that both parties should enter into closer dialogue to understand each other’s perspectives and needs.

The conclusion: forums bringing operators and customers closer together in dialogue would help improve awareness of needs and constraints; but the role of the forwarder was also acknowledged to help provide volume commitments that would make it easier for operators to make the necessary investments in equipment and scheduled track access.

Andrew Traill, ESC’s Policy Director suggested there was much ESC could do to build on the dialogue that had begun in the seminar, and build on the opportunities being created by increasing competition and choice of services in Europe.

For further information contact: Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of the ESC - Brussels 00 322 230 2113