Opportunities in European Rail Transportation
The share of rail freight in Europe has fallen gradually from contributing to about 20% to an estimated share of 17% in 2011. Some of the reasons for the lower share of rail are due to the lack attention from regulatory bodies and due to reliability, shorter transit times and flexibility offered by road. Road freight and Inland waterways are the other two modes, with shippers preferring road freight considering that 78% of the goods moved in Europe are through roadways. The slow growth in rail transportation can be attributed to a number of factors such as difference in cross country laws and regulations. Failure to encourage the rail sector in Europe has left service void, while in US the rail modal share is about 40% of the total freight transported mainly helped by the implementation of staggers rail act in 1980. The act deregularized the US rail sector by granting pricing freedom to US rail car operators and provided greater freedom in the line abandonment process which allowed rail car operators to focus on the profitable rail lines. The act also provided access to multi modal ownership for rail-car operators and had increased the popularity of rail freight for bulk good transportation in the US.
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