– The considerable increase in the volume of goods and passenger transport over the last years and demands for rapidity, safety and environmental compatibility, have led to the development of the "intermodal" transport concept.
– This term covers system, mechanisms and technologies needed to integrate road, rail, air and maritime transport and to ensure optimum transfer of goods and passengers from one transport mode to another. Two examples of intermodal transport are combined rail/road passenger transport systems and standardized containers transportable by boat, cargo plane, train and lorry.
– The spread of intermodality in transport presupposes a number of developments in the field of standardisation, Telecommunications and telematics, and research on a broad range of subjects.
2. Situation in Europe
– The development of intermodal transport is of particular importance in Europe. Europe is interlinked by closely meshed transport networks of various types. For the internal market to function efficiently and harmoniously, these networks must be interconnected and the conditions created to enable passengers and goods to travel smoothly in good conditions across these different networks from one end of the continent to the other.
– The development of trans-European transport networks is included among those activities emanating from the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment endorsed by the Heads of State and Government in 1993. The overall vision for the development of these networks is one of multimodality.
– Initiatives to promote intermodality have been taken at national level: development of transhipment techniques; development of infrastructures and transport media specially designed for intermodal freight traffic in the Netherlands, France and Spain and for passenger transport in the UK, France and Germany, etc. However, it cannot be said that there is a European intermodal industry today. Likewise there is no intermodal organization representing all the players.
3. Community interest
– Implementation of a truly intermodal transport system will improve Union cohesion and reduce environmental impacts such as noise, emissions into the air, and contamination of soil, with wide benefits across the Member States.
Annexe 1: page 8 / 14 – Economies of scale in the manufacture of equipment for transport transfer points will
enhance employment opportunities through a more competitive European position in world markets and the development of a European intermodal transport sub-system industry offering opportunities to small and medium sized enterprises;
– More efficient use of resources will benefit transport operators, and industry across the European Union countries, as will improved logistic systems operating within the "Information Society".
4. Tasks
– The aim of the Task Force is to contribute to the development of technologies, systems, innovative concepts and strategies which improve intermodal transport operations in the field of passenger and freight transport. It will be necessary not only to focus on ports, airports, inland terminals, stations, etc. where freight or passengers change transport mode, but also on other aspects of the intermodal system, such as transfer technologies and telematic tools.
– The Task Force will be responsible for identifying the needs, priorities and actions to be taken at European level in the area of RTD, innovations and demonstration. Attention, is devoted to technological bottlenecks in each of the associated transport modes, and to the best way of ensuring interconnection and interoperability.
– The initial focus will be on assessing and demonstrating these different aspects in an integrated and comprehensive way on the basis of RTD activities of the Framework Programme and other EU or nationally supported research activities.
5. Progress to date
Consultation with industry and users
Following informal, meetings with representatives of many of the European organisations and international associations concerned with intermodal transport, Commissioner Kinnock invited senior figures in these organisations, in major companies operating on an intermodal basis, in freight forwarding companies and in equipment supply companies, to a meeting on 29 September. At this meeting the work of the Task Force was explained, and the terms of reference and action plan guidelines endorsed. A Press Notice is being issued to provide information more widely and invite the submission of contributions from any interested party.
Research tasks
– In both passenger and freight sectors, research on information provision and exchange and the design of transfer points are priority themes.
– In the freight sector, research, demonstration/experiment on the basis of existing RTD results may be more important than new research; improvement of service quality, market conditions and competitiveness is vital. Transfer technology, with an emphasis on inexpensive equipment, will also be addresses. In the passenger sector, multimodal ticketing will be addressed.
Annexe 1: page 10 / 14 – The specific programmes on Transport, Industrial Material Technologies and
Telematics Applications are relevant to the task Force. A first evaluation leads to a proposal aiming at reorienting the next calls for proposal. The Task Forces priorities can not be implemented, however within this action only.
Relation to national programmes
– New dedicated infrastructures and transhipment techniques are being developed in many Member States. This Task Force will consider possibilities for developing convergence between Community and national research activities in these areas. Likely focus of proposals for supplementary projects.
– Immediate priorities for freight transport improve the efficiency of the terminal, intermodal networks, Information Systems, for passenger transport, physical and information interchange systems and the theme of the transport for the millennium city.
6. Timetable
The Task Force aims to prepare a diagnosis report specifying the problems in more detail, and an inventory of relevant RTD activities; a detailed outline of proposed priority projects by the end of 1995; and recommendations for the Fifth Framework Programme of RTD by 29 February 1996.