In the past decades, the reputation and importance of rail transport has suffered significantly with customer expectations, operators’ performance promises and reality drifting further and further apart [1]. It is widely considered too inflexible, unreliable and inconvenient for the transportation of both people and goods. Ever since the global financial crisis struck, investments into the European railway network have stalled, so today, we are confronted with timeworn rails and trains as well as a highly fragmented rail system across the European Union. And the investment landscape remains dire. As infrastructure projects are defined by high investment volumes and relatively low returns on investment, they are unattractive for private investors [2].
However, politicians and societies begin to understand the advantages railway transportation brings about, especially considering the fight against climate change. Those advantages include the low levels of noise pollution, the high safety levels, the well-advanced electrification, the possibility of using renewable energies and re-using braking energy [3]. This makes rail transportation the most environmentally-friendly mode of transport: only 0.4% of Europe’s overall greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector are caused by trains [4]. However, electrification gaps in the global railway network limit reaping the benefits of this green mode of transport: on routes without overhead lines, the primary powertrains are still diesel engines. Currently, 61% of Germany’s railway network is electrified. By 2030, this value is set to increase to over 75% [5]. Thus, the expansion and modernization of national and transnational railways is one focus area of the European Green Deal with the goal of turning the European Union climate neutral by 2050.
The following sub-chapters look deeper into the current state of railway transportation for both goods and people as well as new business models and future opportunities.
