As with every election period, the issue of transferring road freight to rail is raised once again. This is not a new issue, but this time it is mainly justified by the problems of pollutant emissions and their impact on the greenhouse effect. Congestion, which should not be underestimated, also seems to lend increasing legitimacy to the argument for transferring road traffic to rail. The importance of these issues cannot be denied, but while the questions raised are valid, the answers provided are far from realistic. In fact, when we look closely at the figures for both pollution and congestion, shifting traffic from road to rail would have a relatively modest impact given the actual capabilities of the current rail system.