Freight Transport and Logistics Masterplan - Bundesministerium für ...

Measures: Environmentally friendly, climate-friendly, quiet and safe tr ansport Measures: Environmentally friendly, climate-friendly, quiet and safe tr ansport
E 3 Establish a financial assistance programme to encourage the use of modern E 4 Optimize processes in the logistics chain taking greater account of environmental concerns
technologies to reduce the noise caused by rolling stock
Current situation the freight wagon fleet, thereby significantly
The problems associated with noise are espe­ mitigating the impact of noise on residents.
cially acute in the rail freight sector, because
mainlines frequently run through densely po- Responsibility
pulated areas and cause considerable nuisance The pilot and innovation programme will be
for people living near these lines. Residents’ controlled by an interministerial working
quality of life could be improved by the use of group with the Federal Ministry of Transport,
new technologies, such as innovative brake Building and Urban Affairs as lead departblocks
for freight wagons. The development ment, EU (state aid issues, possibly uniform EU
and retrofitting of improved brake block types solution).
entails risks and opportunities for railway
undertakings. At present, however, there are Budgetary relevance
neither incentives nor obligations to under- The 2008 federal budget includes 100 million
take such a retrofit. euros in the “noise mitigation“ item. Of this
sum, 10 million euros are ring-fenced for the
Description of the measure pilot and innovation programme. A total of up
A pilot project is to be launched for the retro­ to 40 million euros, distributed over four years,
fitting of existing freight wagons to reduce the will be provided for this purpose.
noise they cause. On a selected busy corridor
(Rhine Valley), the short-term use of quiet EU relevance
freight wagons is to deliver practical findings This measure will require European Commisabout
the necessary engineering and authori­ sion approval.
zations. In parallel, a programme component
for the collection of data on wagons is to lay Implementation period
the foundations for further measures, espe- Around two to four years will be required to
cially with regard to a revenue-neutral emissi­ retrofit the wagons.
ons-based rail infrastructure charging system.
The objective of the innovation programme
is to further improve noise-reducing retrofit
solutions for older, noisy freight wagons and
to make these solutions more widely available.
The aim is to reduce the costs of developing
improved brake block types for retrofitting
and to speed up development.
Impact
This measure will help to make transport
more environmentally friendly and reduce its
impact on climate change by seeking to substantially
reduce the level of noise caused by
Current situation measure will be funded from the Federal
Efficient logistics systems and networks are Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban
a crucial factor in the success of businesses Affairs’ budget.
and locations in national and international
competition. However, efficient systems do EU relevance
not, by themselves, automatically mean that This measure is consistent with EU environoptimum
consideration is given to environ­ mental and transport policy, according to
mental concerns. Examples do show, however, which freight transport and logistics can make
that technological innovations and optimized a contribution to environmental protection
processes, with the involvement of producers, and climate change mitigation, in particular
can result in better profitability and competi­ by unlocking potential for CO ² savings.
tiveness while taking account of environmental
concerns. Implementation period
The strategy is to be developed in 2008/2009.
Description of the measure
Incentives are to be developed to optimize
processes in the logistics chain taking greater
account of environmental concerns. In particular,
the impact of financial assistance incentives
for voluntary environmental certification
(e.g. ISO 14001 and EMAS) of the logistics chain
is to be considered.
Impact
This measure is designed to enhance the
efficiency of the logistics chain and to result in
further contributions being made to environmental
protection and climate change mitigation,
for instance by reducing CO ² emissions.
Responsibility
Incentives and, if appropriate, funding strategies
will be developed by the Federal Ministry
of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs. Shippers,
forwarders and logistics operators will be
responsible for implementing the measures.
Budgetary relevance
The funding required for public sector financial
assistance programmes is estimated to
be around € 4 to 6 million per annum. This