Regional policy issues regarding rail freight services
type: Dataset
description: This paper presents some of the results of the shortlines research project for Ademe (French agency for the environment) and Predit (French support program for surface transport research). The paper focuses on France, and makes some comparisons with North America and Germany. It is organized in two parts. The first part analyses the notion of short line freight railways in the European context. We observe that to date, unlike short lines in North America, which have mostly sought cooperation with major railways, the new rail operators in Europe are competing with the majors. The second part discusses regional policies on rail freight transport. We observe that for some time, local governments in France have been afraid that the on-going reduction of regional rail freight services will increase truck traffic and environmental impacts. Today, however, these governments appear to be more reluctant to promote rail freight activities than they were a few years ago. The current conditions under which local lines operate in Europe and especially in France, including small capacity on the infrastructure and high cost of labor and low productivity, may explain this reluctance.
landing page: 0967-070X
keyword: europe
keyword: fret
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsarticle
keyword: journal-articles
keyword: politique
keyword: spiotherengineering-sciences-physicsother
keyword: train-chemin-de-fer
keyword: transport-de-marchandise
keyword: transport-de-marchandises
keyword: transport-ferroviaire
issued: 2026-05-09T02:56:53.691026
modified: 2026-05-09T02:56:53.691031
language: en
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

Regional policy issues regarding rail freight services
type: Distribution
format: HTML
access URL: https://hal.science/hal-00881008
issued: 2026-05-09T02:56:53.701048
modified: 2026-05-09T02:56:53.680536