COMMITMENTS to improve service quality on key European intermodal corridors are to be put in place by the end of this year, under the terms of an agreement between the International Union of Railways and the intermodal operators’ forum UIRR announced on July 5.
UIRR member companies have been increasingly critical about the quality of service offered by many European operators. A year of discussions between the UIC Freight Forum and UIRR led to the agreement, which was signed by UIRR Chairman Eugenio Muzio and the Chairman of UIC’s Combined Transport Group Eric Peetermans.
The joint commitment will see a discussion framework established, with a view to setting quality contracts for block trains on a corridor-by-corridor basis. UIRR expects this to make intermodal more attractive and ’create the potential for the increase of productivity for all actors in the chain’, encouraging further modal transfer.
- A new Standard Contract for the Use of Wagons (CUU) will come into force on January 1, following ratification by the UIC Freight Forum on July 1. Prepared by a joint working group including UIC, the European Rail Freight Association and the International Union of Private Wagon Owners, CUU is intended to make the contractual regime more accessible to new entrants and open access train operators. Covering 400000 railway-owned and 200000 private wagons, it replaces provisions in the RIV agreement and UIC leaflets 433 and 992.
