Releasing the fourth PRIME Benchmarking Report
The PRIME Benchmarking Report by rail infrastructure managers led by the European Commission has been published for the fourth time. civity has been accompanying this project for five years now and is involved in data collection and analysis as well as in the further development of this KPI and benchmarking project.
Majority of results are positive
The European Green Deal sets out how to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. To reach that goal, rail will have to take up a bigger share of the transport system. Rail infrastructure managers work hard to provide safe, reliable, green, smart and affordable railway infrastructure for the transport of people and goods. The report gives a relevant insight on indicators covering these dimensions.
Some important achievements are visible: the majority of the infrastructure managers increased their safety performance in the last years, which is particularly positive as safety is among the top priorities in transportation. Decreasing figures in the share of diesel-powered trains show that rail itself aims to become greener and takes steps towards it. More than 80% of the infrastructure manger’s train kilometres are run on electricity. To achieve the European Commission’s objective to double rail freight traffic by 2050, freight still needs a serious boosting. PRIME data shows that its development remains an important objective of the infrastructure managers.
18 participating infrastructure managers and a more complete dataset
18 infrastructure managers have jointly agreed on the key performance indicators that are relevant for their business and provided data creating an impressive data base. It follows last year’s objective in providing a comprehensive report with more detailed explanations and contextual information to make the wealth of data more accessible. With one new participant and a more complete dataset it continues its positive development.
Significance extends beyond the benchmarking subgroup
We believe that PRIME data and definitions can serve the needs of a large range of rail experts and policy makers. By measuring and sharing the results, we aim to demonstrate to the wider public that the rail sector is committed to improving its service provision.
Last regular report before possible COVID-19 impacts
As this report covers data up to 2019, it does not yet show the impacts of the pandemic. This report can however be considered the last "regular" report in the sense that it shows the industry development before the various distortions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this respect, this report can be a good data reference to compare developments before and after the pandemic.