[3] The relative extent of wagon load traffic within the Europe varies considerably; in the 1990s within the EU an EFTA wagonload traffic accounted for approximately 40% of rail freight, whilst in eastern European counties the percentage was higher, around 60%.
[6] As a result, SNCF began to seek solutions for the profitability options, including considering the use of US style "shortline" operators on branch networks.
[7] A 'multi-lots, multi-clients' contracting system was introduced in 2010 in an attempt to move towards more profitable freight work,[8] and cut on demand wagonload services on lightly utilised routes.
[10] In the United Kingdom the wagonload system was reduced by the consequences of the implementation of The Reshaping of British Railways report.
[14] Some residual wagonload operations including international freight work continued to be operated by Railfreight Distribution (RfD), in particular as part of its Connectrail service; RfD was also unprofitable, and when privatised in 1997 the acquirer, EWS received significant subsidies (over £200 million over 8 years).
[17] In the US and Canada the term manifest train refers to trains made of diverse cars of freight, moving from rail hubs to rail hubs to save costs and gain in efficiency.