MEP calls for transhipment investment
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• Further development long-distance lorry transport faced with obstacles and con bined road/rail operations an the "keystone" of the future, says a report prepared for tl European Parliament.
The report — proposing t creation of a chain of EEC h tegrated transport centres k switching goods from one mode to another — says tha road haulage is highly flexibli But it sees lorries' future mainly in terms of bringing loads to and from terminals where goods are loaded on and off trains or barges for t main section of the journey.
The report, which has bee submitted by the Parliament' transport committee, claims that research shows that roa transport over medium or la distance routes is not only e: pensive but is often undesirable for reasons of energy saving, safety and environme Other factors making corn. bined transport more attractive are drivers' rest periods weekend driving bans, traffic jams at frontiers and restrictions in Switzerland and Austria.
"In the future it will becon increasingly difficult to increase productivity in transport by road only," says the report's author, Italian MEP Angelo Carossino.
"An increase in the capacit of road vehicles even now seems purely theoretical, in view of the actual situation a the Continental road network and restrictions on the speed weight and size of vehicles."