The oil crises of the 1970s, as well as the current one, were triggered by wars, either as a contributory factor or as a consequence. These crises had and still have massive repercussions on the transport sector and thus on the mobility of goods and people.
From a military point of view, immediately before the 1973 crisis, new military regimes emerged as a result of coups: Libya (1969), Sudan, Syria and Iraq (1968). In 1973, this led to a crisis in a very important economic sector: energy and oil.
Subsequently, in 1979, there was a second oil crisis with dynamics very similar to that of 1973-74: a sharp increase in the price of oil, due to a political event in the Asian area (the coming to power of Khomeyni in Iran and the subsequent war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq).
Both events led to a sharp drop in oil production. In the space of three years (1979-82), the economic policy responses to these numerous crises, originating in the Anglo-Saxon world and then spreading throughout the West, profoundly changed the planet's economic orientation.
The combination of these responses led to the spread of neo-liberalism and the decline of the state as a director and actor in economic development.
Today, following Russia's recognition of the people's republics of Lugansk and Donetsk and the invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces, a new energy crisis has arisen, one that is capable of throwing into panic the European markets that depend to a large extent on Russian gas and oil.
There is therefore a major problem in reducing energy consumption and finding other sources of supply. This current energy crisis, like previous ones, affects the transport sector.
The contribution therefore aims to analyse the energy crises from the 1970s to the present day and their impact on the transport sector from a historical perspective, emphasising the importance that rail transport has had and continues to have as a valid alternative to other forms of energy-intensive mobility.
Indeed, increased use of rail over short and long distances helps to counter the emerging global energy crisis. If we add to this the fact that railway stations are mainly located in the centre of cities, the use of rail becomes not only a way to counter the current energy crisis but a fundamental choice for the ecological transition in the mobility sector.