Under this slogan, an energetic campaign has been conducted by environmental organizations since 1996. Its goal, generally speaking, is to improve the quality of life for society, reduce the adverse impact of road transport on health, lower noise levels, save thousands of homes and farms from destruction, and also preserve what are often the last enclaves of wildlife and the charms of beautiful landscapes.
It seems that an essential condition for achieving these goals is the introduction of fair competition in Poland between road and rail transport. The outcome of such a confrontation is likely a foregone conclusion, and this would consequently facilitate shifting transit heavy goods vehicle traffic from Polish roads to Polish railways, i.e., fulfilling the “Trucks on tracks” slogan.
Why do we need this, skeptics might ask? There are many reasons, and I would like to cite just a few of them. Austria and Switzerland, located—like Poland—on international transport routes, have been struggling with the problem of heavy-duty vehicle transit for years. The example of Switzerland is particularly instructive, as most decisions important to society are made through referendums. In 1994, the principle of fees for trucks and shifting all Alpine transport to rail by 2005 was adopted.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2001/2.