At the meeting of the UIRR's Combined Transport operators and terminal managers, the reasons for the 2023 result were discussed.
The unfortunate mix of economic downturn, high inflation, war effects, strikes, natural disasters, accidents and major labour and climate change related disruptions that occurred simultaneously during the year were identified as the main causes of the disappointing result.
| Combined Transport | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | y/y |
| Consignment | 4 511 573 | 4 721 209 | 5 105 822 | 5 090 822 | 4 552 736 | -10.57% |
| TKM (billion) | 83.54 | 90.34 | 100.23 | 88.50 | 80.19 | -9.39% |
UIRR Director General Ralf-Charley Schultze commented: "The members of the UIRR, looking for a way to regain the growth momentum necessary to achieve both business and public policy objectives, have today set a growth target of 6 million consignments by 2030. The first task of the new Board of Directors will be to adopt a policy paper on how to achieve this objective".
The meeting identified potential productivity gains within the intermodal value chain to improve the attractiveness of combined transport. It also discussed how combined transport can support European resilience and competitiveness alongside the Green Deal.
For the future, the European combined transport community was united in calling for:
- more and better quality train paths for freight trains
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effective crisis management by both the EU and individual Member States
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the constructive conclusion of ongoing legislative dossiers
- correct implementation of recently adopted EU legislation
UIRR also elected the following Board of Directors for a 3-year mandate 2024-27:
