Browsing by Author "Bingel, Christopher"

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    Assessing the costs and benefits of a speed limit for freight trains during night-time operations : a generic model for the Netherlands
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Bingel, Christopher; Van der Merwe, Jacomien; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Logistics. Logistics.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Noise pollution is a severe issue for numerous individuals, especially when it occurs consistently and throughout the entire day. As a major source of emissions, transportation has long been in the focus of policy makers hoping to alleviate affected persons from negative effects on health and wellbeing. In such an attempt, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management plans to reduce the maximum allowed speed for freight trains between 11pm and 7am to either 40 km/h or 60 km/h. In order to assess and compare the total economic advantages and disadvantages of such a policy, the Ministry commissioned a study to explore the resulting effects. This research thesis therefore set out to answer the questions if and how much a nightly speed limit reduction for freight trains in the Netherlands will reduce the noise levels and influence the operations of these services. Distinguishing between three different production systems (block trains, wagonload trains and combined transport) and different transportation distances, it is found that operating costs will increase between 0.3% and 5.0%. It is expected that as freight trains becomes more costly to operate, consignors will opt for transportation alternatives on roads and inland waterways. Thus, the second purpose of this study is to determine the demand behaviour and a potential modal shift in the Dutch rail freight market. In order to do so, 13 industry experts from railway operators, freight forwarders and consignors were interviewed. From these interviews, quantitative and qualitative indications were used to calculate price elasticities for rail freight services in the relevant market. These elasticities, again depending on the production system, the transport distance and the level of cost increase, vary between 0.1 and 2.6, which is consistent with previous research. The final question to answer concerns the feasibility of a case study. In an economic cost-benefit analysis, this paper investigates a train line between the Dutch towns of Meteren and Boxtel. It is found that although noise and air pollutant emissions related to freight trains decrease, there are negative effects outweighing the benefits. During the time period from 2030 to 2040, total costs exceed the total benefits by around 3.73 €m (alternative 1, reduction to 40 km/h) and 1.35 €m in 2019 values. This corresponds to a benefit-cost ratio of 0.274 and 0.353 respectively. This paper shows that a speed reduction does in deed reduce costs to society that stem from noise emitted by freight trains. However, this measure has side effects, as traffic volumes will shift to trucks and barges as the railway freight product becomes more and more unattractive. Operational cost increases and external costs (e.g. higher air pollution by trucks or higher probability of accidents) outweigh the benefits to society. Therefore, the author recommends to reject the suggested speed limit reduction for freight trains between 11pm and 7am in the Netherlands.