Strategies to secure the role of private rail sidings in the Netherlands

Abstract

Private rail sidings form the physical access gates for companies to the rail network. Without these rail freight, transport is not possible and these private sidings can be seen as an indicator of the competitiveness of rail transport. However, the number of private sidings has dropped significantly over the last decades, which limits the rail freight sector and the resilience of the rail network. A resilient rail network is important to reach societal goals such as emission reduction and less road nuisance. This research focuses on this problem by proposing concrete strategies to help the companies using rail transport and allow them to use their private sidings. Through the help of literature, data and stakeholder interviews, an Osterwalder business model canvas, SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix are constructed to identify the problems and propose strategies. Causal diagrams show the coherence of the sector and how problems, strategies and private sidings influence each other. The first result is a new way of categorising companies and their respective private sidings. This reveals the underlying problems and strengths per type of private siding. The most important problems are rising costs, unreliability of the rail network and limited usability of the private siding due to regulations and non-electrified infrastructure. To combat this, six strategies are proposed with the introduction of a second infrastructure manager to combat costs and regulations and specific infrastructure investments as the most promising strategies. Effective policies require tailored solutions based on the type of company and private siding. This can help the Dutch rail sector and increase the resilience of the transport network.