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Minister Bednárik called on the European Commissioner to support rail freight transport in the EU

Minister Bednárik called on the European Commissioner to support rail freight transport in the EU

18/5/2026Press releases

Transport Minister Ivan Bednárik sent a letter to European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas, in which he highlights the declining share of rail freight transport in the European Union and calls for the launch of a political debate on specific measures to support it at the European level. He emphasizes the need for a coordinated approach, increased investment in infrastructure, better cross-border coordination, and the strengthening of multimodality, interoperability, and digitalization.

Minister Bednárik called on the European Commissioner to support rail freight transport in the EU
The letter is part of Minister Bednárik’s initiative aimed at strengthening the position of rail freight transport in Europe. Since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Transport has been in intensive discussions with its European partners and is preparing a set of concrete proposals for support, which the minister intends to present at the June meeting of the EU Transport Council.

The share of rail in freight transport in the European Union has been declining for a long time and currently stands at around 16%. Transport operators across Europe are reporting problems, including in traditionally strong rail countries such as Austria and Germany, and outside the EU, for example in Switzerland.

“If we want to stop this trend, we must act quickly and in a coordinated manner. We need targeted investments in the TEN-T core network and terminals, more efficient capacity management on the tracks, a genuine priority for international freight trains, and a significant shift toward digitalization and interoperability. Support for intermodal transport is also essential. Without these coordinated steps, rail will continue to lose ground to road transport,” emphasizes Transport Minister Ivan Bednárik.

Kompletní znění dopisu:

Dear Commissioner Tzitzikostas,

I would like to address the issue of maintaining the competitiveness of European rail freight transport. Since taking office as Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic in December last year, reversing the decline in the share of rail freight within the European Union has been one of my main priorities.

This trend runs counter to the EU’s objective of shifting a substantial portion of goods transport from road to more environmentally friendly modes, such as rail. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport is essential to achieving the EU’s long-term strategy and its climate-neutrality targets. In this context, rail freight offers significant—yet still underutilised—potential for emissions savings. At the same time, a greater diversification of freight transport across modes would improve our capacity to respond to crises and strengthen the overall resilience of the European transport system.

Although rail remains the most decarbonised mode of transport, it is losing its competitiveness, particularly vis-à-vis road transport. As a result, the share of rail freight in the EU continues to decline, moving the Union further away from its modal shift objectives. This development is also having tangible economic impacts, with many rail freight operators facing increasing challenges in terms of profitability.

To prevent this undesirable trend from continuing, I would like to initiate a targeted political debate at EU level on how to halt the decline in rail freight’s share and how to fully harness its potential for competitive, sustainable and resilient logistics across Europe. In cooperation with other Member States, we have begun to identify a set of possible measures. However, the situation calls for a coherent and coordinated approach, and strong leadership from the European Commission will be essential in this regard.

In this context, greater attention should be given to the further development of rail freight infrastructure, including targeted investments in the TEN-T network and multimodal terminals under the forthcoming Multiannual Financial Framework. Capacity management and cross-border coordination must also improve, including through the timely implementation of the Capacity Regulation and a genuine prioritisation of international rail freight.

Key enablers for boosting rail freight include multimodality, interoperability and digitalisation. More favourable conditions should be created to strengthen combined transport, for example by supporting the development of terminals and marshalling yards, as well as by modernising single-wagonload systems to enable a shift towards more efficient continental combined transport solutions.

Finally, remaining obstacles to full interoperability must be removed. The deployment of ERTMS has clearly demonstrated the need for greater harmonisation, where strong EU leadership remains indispensable.

I believe that this challenge is widely recognised among Member States, and I would therefore welcome the opening of a ministerial discussion. In this context, we would like to submit the initiative as an AOB point for an upcoming Transport Council.

In conclusion, Mr Commissioner, let me thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Ivan Bednárik


 



 

 

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