The drastic increase of the traffic
During the last 20 years the transalpine traffic has reduplicated. 
In 2003 104. Mio tons of goods were transported on road and on rail over the inner alpine bow. Currently the quantity of goods is increasing disproportionally. The increased domestic market arisen from the EU east enlargement has an essential impact on it.

Changed  basic conditions for the displacement on the rail in the alpine space

The lapse of the previous eco points arrangements in Austria as well as the quotas for the new EU member states have changed the general conditions for the displacement of the freight traffic to the rail in the alpine space in the year 2004.
This is also documented by the shipment decline of the Rolling Road on the Brenner.  It seems important therefore, besides present very effective and national furtherance instruments for combined traffic, to observe also new rudiments for traffic displacement, like the project "AlpFRail".

Thinking in national borders
So far the rail freight traffic has been organised nationally. The responsibility of the Germans or Austrians for their railway is finished at the country border. For an optimal non-stop offer of the rail freight traffic from Hamburg to Verona there were hardly any initiatives. The railway companies still fight with their history with respect to the locomotive change, the locomotive driver change and the different electricity systems. The same applies to the enlargement of the rail infrastructure.

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