WP3: Rail Passenger Transport - TOSCA Project

1 INTRODUCTION
Rail passenger transport in the EU-27 totalled in 2007 a volume of 480 billion passenger-km,
of which metros and trams made accounted for some 85 billion (EU, 2009). The market share
was almost 8 % of the total passenger transport volume (in passenger-km, intra-EU), although
with large variations between countries. In comparison some non-EU countries with well
established and managed rail networks had considerably higher market shares; as shown in
Table 1-1 below.
Table 1-1
Market shares in passenger transport by 2007 (passenger-km, pkm)
Source: EU (2009): EU energy and transport in figures
Road (car, bus) EU-27 83 %
Air EU-27 9 %
Rail EU-27 8 %
cf. Switzerland 16 %
Japan (approx) 32 % (2006)
The market share for the rail mode declined in Europe for a long time until the mid 1990´s.
After 1995 the decline has continued in the new member states (EU-12). However, in the old
member states (EU-15) rail passenger transport has recovered to some extent, as result of new
EU and national rail policies leading to investments in new trains and infrastructure, as well as
the ongoing attempts of market liberalization. The most successful countries in this respect are
France, UK and Sweden. Table 1-2 shows the development of the passenger rail market
(excluding trams and metros) in some areas and countries in the period 1995–2007, in
comparison to the average development of all transport modes.
Table 1-2
Development of passenger transport (passenger-km) in EU-27 in the
period 1995-2007, rail and average of all modes. Source: EU (2009)
Average all modes EU-27 +22 %
Rail EU-27 +13 %
EU-12 (new members, average) -33 %
EU-15 (old members, average) +25 %
France+UK+Sweden +52 %
It is concluded that these new policies have started a revitalization of railways in Europe,
although not yet in all member states.
Rail passenger transport is widely considered to have low specific energy consumption and low
direct or indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in comparison to competing modes of
transport. Although this is not always true, it is usually the case in electric train operations, in
particular when the electricity mix is dominated by renewable primary energy sources or
nuclear power. Diesel trains are usually not outstanding in energy and emission performance,
but can in many cases also be very competitive in the energy and GHG respect.
The main reasons for the low energy consumption are the following technical characteristics
that are inherent in the basic rail technology:
- Rolling resistance is very low with smooth hard wheels running on smooth hard rails.
- Most vehicles in a long train are (to a large extent) shielded from the air drag by other
vehicles ahead or behind.
Deliverable D4 – WP3 passenger 3