Use of Secondary Rail Lines as Alternative Routes for Freight Rail Transportation

Rail transport is currently facing a number of problems. The European Union wants to shift as much freight as possible from road to rail and this is one of the key objectives of the Green Deal. This objective also requires rail carriers to improve their service quality in order to retain existing customers and attract new customers currently using road transport. However, there are a number of factors that are making the railways less competitive. One of these is the closure of the main lines. These lines are crucial to the successful organisation of transport. The article looks at the train costs incurred by carriers when main lines cannot be used for various reasons (line reconstruction, lack of capacity, etc.). The article compares the cost of a train running on a main line with two alternative lines. It examines and describes in detail the efficiency and economic impact of using the alternative routes in the event of an emergency on the main line, and also identifies the advantages and disadvantages of the secondary routes. The paper provides an insight into the usability of secondary routes when an alternative route is required.