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One of Europe's leading car-transport associations has reacted angrily to a report by rail operators which argues that bigger trucks on European roads would mean more congestion.

The report - Mega-Trucks Versus Rail Freight - was produced by a group of European rail associations, including the Union of European Railway Industries (UNIFE). It argues that because larger trucks would reduce road transport costs, new transport demand would be generated,  increasing "mobile warehousing" on Europe's roads.

But Fritz Mehrtens, the president of ECG, the Association of European Vehicle Logistics, says the rail operators' study is "not realistic".

He adds: "The study distorts reality, as it suggests that the adoption of so-called megatrucks [Longer, Heavier Vehicles, or LHVs] would nearly be a criminal gesture. It's a shame that when talking about trucks whose maximum length is 25.25 metres, the study includes pictures of trucks longer than 50 metres which are used in Australia and whose introduction in Europe has never been on any agenda."

Mehrtens argues that those proposing the bigger trucks have never been against the railways, and would like to see more freight carried by rail however he believes that "like it or not, in the foreseeable future rail will not be the backbone of European freight transport".

He adds that the new generation of big trucks would help to  offset the driver shortage on the Continent and would only maintain the amount of freight carried on European roads, not increase it.

But the rail operators say not only that road freight would increase with bigger trucks, but that infrastructure would have to be expensively improved in order for them to operate safely.

The report says: "The rail sector's concern is an overall increase in the external costs by the introduction of megatrucks - ie more CO2 emissions, more congestion, more accidents - with those costs not borne by the user, but by society as a whole."