Letting the train take the strain
Shipping freight by rail must be made more competitive to ease the pressure on the roads. An EU-funded research project has demonstrated an innovative approach to the automated, intermodal shipment of goods that is both practical and profitable, with cost reductions of up to 60%. Background In Europe, 75% of freight is transported by road, contributing significantly to traffic congestion and pollution, with a real impact on the environment and, as the recent disaster in the Mont Blanc tunnel showed, potential hazards for other road users. The solution? To develop rail transport as a competitive alternative. But that still leaves a major problem: in 95% of rail terminals, goods are transferred by vertical techniques which are cumbersome, expensive and difficult to automate. An Italian firm has addressed the problem by developing an innovative system of flexible horizontal `sliding' transhipment, which is both automated and compatible with the existing vertical technology. Partners in the EU-funded FLIHTT project have proved that the system is both operational and competitive on the intermodality market in Europe. Description, impact and results The new system consists of a modular tray on which the freight units - pallets, containers, crates, etc. - are placed, ready for automatic sliding into a goods wagon, for example, or mechanical sliding from one method of transport to another, such as at the docks. Technical and financial feasibility studies carried out in terminals at Lille (France) and Padua (Italy) have shown that: the cost per movement falls by about 60% per freight unit in a terminal with a capacity of 150,000 units per year; the investment costs for the required facilities are 40 to 60% lower than those of the vertical infrastructure; savings of 30 to 40% can be made in management costs; in spite of the cost of basic adaptations to the facilities, the time-scale for the return on investment is cut by a third. Initial installation of the system is planned for 2001 or 2002 in Italy before being set up at other terminals throughout Europe. Working partnerships Costamasnaga Group, a market-leading Italian manufacturer of rolling stock and intermodal terminal equipment, initiated the project. In 1991-1994, the company designed and produced a trial system called TRAI-2000, for the Italian Infrastructure Ministry, and subsequently patented it. The multidisciplinary partnership also includes two industrial partners: Technicatome, a French engineering company, and Kranservice, a German transport equipment manufacturer; an end-user: FS SpA, the Italian state railway company; a representative of the academic world: l'Universidad Politecnica Madrid (Spain); and a research institute specialising in new technologies, in particular transport and automation: l'Ente Nazionale Energia Alternativa (Italy).