Tallinn-Warsaw Freight Corridor: Railway, Road and Sea Transport Comparison

Prof. Olli-Pekka Hilmola

Lappeenranta University of Technology, Kouvola UnitPrikaatintie 9, FIN-45100 Kouvola, Finland

E-mail: olli-pekka.hilmola@lut.fi

Current Situation with Infra and Environmental Payments:

Tallinn-Warsaw

Freight using road transport:

• Without any additional vignette or toll cost in Finland, Estonia and Latvia

• In Lithuania vignette system costs 20 € per day (if purchased one day), 6 € per day (if purchased one month), and approx. 5 € (annual)

• In Poland new viaTOLL system charges approx. 0.04-0.1 € per km driven (3rd of July onwards)

Additional costs of 5-6 € + 0.05 €/km × 320 km = 21-22 € per semi-trailer truck

Freight using sea transport (Gdynia):

• Low Sulphur Surcharge/MARPOL (2007, convention, 73/78): 10-20 € per semi-trailer

• Polish new viaTOLL system: 0.05 €/km × 374 km = 18.7 € per semi-trailer

Additional costs: 28.7-38.7 € per semi-trailer

Freight using railway transport (960 Gross Ton Freight Train):

• Finland: 2.1 € per km (~15 %, if 100 % then 14 € per km)

• Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: 6.5 € per km (100 %)

• Poland: 3.5 € per km (~90 %)

Additional costs of 859 km × 6.5 € /km + 367 km × 3.5 €/km= 6868 € for the whole train (corresponds to 230 € per semi-trailer, if whole train is having 100 % fillrate, 30 semi-trailers)

Source (access fees): Thompson, Loius S. (2008). Railway Access Charges in the EU: Current Status and Developments Since 2004. OECD / International Trasport Forum.

Near Future of Infra and Environmental Payments:

Tallinn-Warsaw

Freight using road transport:

• Maybe Latvia and Estonia start to use similar system with Lithuania (Vignette): additional costs 5-6 € per semi-trailer × 2 = 10-12 € per semi-trailer

• Road is eligble to pay from CO2 emissions (25-45 € per ton): 60-120 €

Total costs of the future: 91-154 € per semi-trailer

Freight using sea transport (Gdynia):

• Low Sulphur Surcharge/MARPOL, 2015 (convention, 73/78): 100-150 € per semi-trailer

• Polish new viaTOLL system: 0.05 €/km × 374 km = 18.7 € per semi-trailer

Additional costs: 118.7-168.7 € per semi-trailer

Access Charges of 960 Gross ton Freight Train in Europe

Source (access fees): Thompson, Loius S. (2008). Railway Access Charges in the EU: Current Status and Developments Since 2004. OECD / International Trasport Forum.

Ratio of 960 Gross ton Freight Train and 590 Gross Ton Intercity Passenger Train in Access Charges

Source (access fees): Thompson, Loius S. (2008). Railway Access Charges in the EU: Current Status and Developments Since 2004. OECD / International Trasport Forum.

Freight using railway transport (960 Gross Ton Freight Train):

• Finland: ~15 % (2.1 € per km) is covered with access fees, then 100 % results to 14 € per train km

• Sweden: ~5 % (0.3 € per km) with 100 % it is 6 € per km

New total costs (with Swedish prices, lower): 7356 € (245 € per semi-trailer)

Railways also cause CO2 emissions (20 % with electricity as compared to trucks): 18-30 € per semi-trailer

Total costs of the future: 260-280 € per semi-trailer

What if real price of access fee is 10 € per km?

Source (access fees): Thompson, Loius S. (2008). Railway Access Charges in the EU: Current Status and Developments Since 2004. OECD / International Trasport Forum.

Stevedoring Strike in Finland (4.March-22.March.2010)

Is this our future after MARPOL sulphur surcharge implementation during year 2015?

...and will we act in retrospect to the forthcoming major changes?

How we could lower access fee for freight in railway network and simultaneously improve current ”old alignment” readiness and state to serve freight flows?

Russian Dimension:Trans-Siberian Railway Pricing Change (...and collapse of Finnish volume)

Year 2008: 643 TEU

Year 2009: 1459 TEU

Year 2010: 1536 TEU

Source (access fees): Tsuji, Hisako (2007). International Container Transport on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 2005-2006: The End of Finland Transit and Expectations Regarding Japanese Use. Erina Report, Vol. 73, May, pp. 20-30.

Japan Experienced Similar Shoot-and-Collapse Two Decades Earlier (at TSR, reasons the same)

...if Additional Transportation CostsIncrease, We Need to Incorporate Rail Baltica in These Four Themes

Rail Baltica Investment

Emerging Countries

RussiaBelarussia

China

Cities and Regions

Tourism

High tech.industry growth

Sure aboutrailwaydemand Lack of Fast

Passenger TransportAlternatives

Tallinn airport between Helsinki and Riga

North-East Poland does not have any airports

Private car use trend in the Baltic States

Marketing Tool

Alignment is not big issue

Place on the map

Like additional sea port or airport

Airports located mostly in capitals

Logistics sector (transit)

Should be connected to eastern markets