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摘要

The beginning of a new year is always the time for the great predictors to take centre stage. Perhaps the fact that more scenarios studying the period between 2035 to 2050 have been published recently represents a sign of the industry's greater confidence in the future these days. No matter whether it is the OECD's International Transport Forum publishing its «Transport Outlook 2015» (see page 9), the US transport ministry's «Beyond Traffic 2045» analysis or the EU's study of the railway industry through to the year 2035, the messages are similar: cargo haulage is rising exponentially, existing capacities will soon be at their limits, cost and environmental considerations mean the future belongs to intermodal solutions. So is everything clear? Not at all. Scientific insights and economic pressure can only offer the basis, the requisite measures have to be decided on by politicians. To reach constructive goals our industry and its needs frequently want not only for citizens' support, but also for that of shippers.