THE EVALUATION AND STRENGTHENING OF THE FREIGHT TRANSPORT SYSTEM, AS A SOLUTION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA

This paper highlights the sustainability and the advantages of the railway transport in comparison to the road transport by doing a comprehensive analysis on the main indicators in the transportation of goods sector. The study emphasizes the importance of being not only cost effective, but also environmental friendly in choosing the optimum transportation channel. The Ordinary Least Squares" method is being applied in order to demonstrate that railway transport is more eco-friendly than other means of transport considering the energy consumption level. The right balance should be achieved between using different transportation modes taking into account the infrastructure needs of each model and also the energy consumption forecast for the goods that need to be delivered. Although even if new infrastructures are bringing advantages and new opportunities from both economic and social point of view, their long term sustainability is an important factor that should be also taken into consideration and especially the effects on the surrounding environment like for example: air pollution, noise, space consumption etc. Efficiency is an important component of sustainability, hence any transportation system should target maximum operational productivity with minimal usage of resources. Finally the paper concludes by proposing a set of scenarios, which can decrease the energy consumption level in Romania by changing the volume of the transported goods.