EU sets up new centre for coordinating EU-wide freight transport

The European Commission has established a new centre for coordinating freight transport across the European Union, with the aim of reducing road congestion.

The European Reference Centre for Intermodal Freight Transport (EURIFT), based in Hamburg, will look at shifting freight transport from roads to more environmentally friendly modes of transport, and promote interaction between different national systems and transport type groups by correlating and integrating the fragmented data they produce.

The European Commission will fund 30 per cent of the centre’s costs for the first three years, with the cities of Bremen and Hamburg, academic and private institutions providing the remaining budget.