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Seminar 17 – 24/04/09

Title: Long distance road freight – growing at unsustainable levels

Speaker: Prof. Eugene O Brien, UCD School of Architecture, Landscape & Civil Engineering

Chair: Pat Maker, Head of Networks, National Roads Authority

Venue: Royal College of Physicians, No.6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Time: 12.30 – 13.30

Abstract

The volume and mass of long distance freight in Europe is growing at a very steady rate – up to 4% per year. In ten years, the tonne-km of freight on Europe’s highways has grown by about 30%. If this growth trend continues, we will need many more highways, or we will have to accommodate a great many more trucks in our existing highways. Rail freight has been suggested as the green alternative, but volumes have barely grown in Europe in ten years.

Ireland is particularly bad and our rail network has not even been electrified. Even more surprising is the lack of urgency in addressing the issue of rail electrification. This talk will review the situation in Europe and will discuss some of the more radical solutions that are now being discussed in Brussels. A truck-only highway is being discussed in Denmark and many high-level groups are considering the concept of convoys – trucks travelling in long trains, electronically linked together. Road trains such as those used in Australia are not popular with the general public but their appearance in Europe is becoming increasingly likely if the problems are not addressed.

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