RailApp: a tool to find railway staff more efficiently
The RailApp transaction and communication platform won the award in the Rail Freight Transport category of the RailTech Innovation Awards 2019. Making use of the application could save companies up to 20 per cent in...Read more
Port of Rotterdam launches app with real-time insight rail freight flows
The Port of Rotterdam Authority has launched OnTrack; an application for real-time insight into rail freight flows within the port and the handling of cargo at its terminals. It presented the application to the public...Read more
BASF opens new research centre Ludwigshafen
BASF officially opened a new research center at the heart of the Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, close to the famous Ammonia Lab. This new pilot plant facility for catalyst and process development will be operated...Read more
Rail Cargo Group strengthens multisystem fleet
Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has called on an option from the 2017 deal for supplying 61 Vectron multisystem locomotives. The vehicles will be operated by Rail Cargo Group (RCG), the rail freight division of ÖBB....Read more
Rail Freight Award goes to RailApp
Innovations from five different countries underscore the international character of the RailTech Innovation Awards 2019. These were presented on Tuesday evening in the Nicolaïkerk in Utrecht. Jury chairman Rolf Dollevoet presented the seven prizes after...Read more
Blockchain a realistic solution for rail freight
Blockchain is no longer a hype; it has become a realistic solution, also for the rail freight sector. How can the industry benefit from this new technology? Klara Paardenkooper will explain this in a workshop...Read more
Arctic fuel and withstanding -25° C: the reefer container
The demand for conditioned container transport is increasing, and so is the preference for environmentally friendly products. Unit45 understood these trends and developed the 45ft reefer container, the first in Europe to handle 33 europallets....Read more
Railway upgrades should be done by machines, not humans
They are like moving factories: machines capable of renewing a railway track autonomously, and without nearby line closures. They are the approach to efficient railway upgrading, but they are not yet widely applied. What is...Read more
Next step toward paperless freight traffic Europe
A next step towards paperless rail freight transport in Europe has been taken. On 12 March, the European Parliament proposed a new regulation for the digitalisation of electronic freight transport information. In simpler terms, this...Read more
Cargo should find its own way to final destination
Cargo should find its own way to its destination, where it determines a logical next destination. It could do this autonomously, without intervention of a human. This is called self-organising logistics. A step too far?...Read more
New order for Smartron freight locomotives
Siemens Mobility has received a new order for 25 Smartron electric locomotives specially developed in accordance with the requirements of the German rail freight market. The deal was concluded with Paribus Holding, a Hamburg-based investment...Read more
Vectron Dual Mode locomotive completed
Siemens Mobility has accomplished the manufacture of the first Vectron Dual Mode locomotive. The vehicle will be capable to use both electric energy and diesel fuel. The Dual Mode locomotive was designed and developed primarily...Read more
Fully automated rail terminals: how far away?
At the moment, full rail terminal automation does not exist in Europe. But this is to change, according to Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC). “In the next 5 to 10 years, we expect to see several...Read more
Google Glass to check containers at Wiencont
The Austrian hinterland terminal Wiencont will test the use of Google Glass this year to check incoming containers. Normally this work is done manually by taking pictures of all the elements that need to be...Read more
Digital tool to align terminal and railway traffic in Port of Antwerp
Alignment between terminal planning and traffic management is sometimes hard to find in the rail freight industry. Thanks to new technologies, this is about to change, at least in the Port of Antwerp. The Rail...Read more
DB Cargo well underway towards silent wagon fleet
Around 80 percent of DB Cargo’s freight cars are now equipped with silent brakes. The German operator aims to reduce railway noise pollution by half by 2020. Today, DB Cargo has 50,500 silent railcars in in...Read more