Characteristic of rail transport in relation with intermodal transport

Characteristic of rail transport in relation with intermodal transport

Table of content

I.        Intermodal Transport Unit        4

A.        The containers        4

B.        The trailers        4

C.        The Swap bodies        4

II.        Rail-Road intermodal transport        5

A.        The three technologies in rail-road intermodal transport        5

B.        Advantages and drawbacks of rail-road intermodal transport        7

C.        The example of the intermodal terminal of Bettembourg in Luxembourg        8

III.        Rail-Sea intermodal transport        10

Introduction

        Intermodal transport consist of using at least two different means of transport to move cargo from one point to another. Intermodal transport has developed mainly because of the need to ensure the continuity of maritime transport. Indeed, the goods which arrived to the ports needed to be transport to the customers. From the 90’s, the European Union, wanted to promote the rail, inland and sea transport to reduce the negative impact of road transport. To promote intermodal transport and to facilitate the transshipment from one means of transport to another, the European Union decided to create Intermodal Transport Units (ITU). These ITU are mainly used for intermodal transport by train. There is three main possibility for intermodal transport with train. The first and the most used is to combined train and road and the second is sea and rail transport.

        My work is divided into three main section. First I’m going to explain what the intermodal transport units are. Then I will describe each possibility for rail intermodal transport: Rail-Road; Rail-Sea.

1. Intermodal Transport Unit

Source :

-International Union for Rail-Road combined transport: http://www.uirr.com/en/road-rail-ct/framework-conditions/loading-units.html

-FAQ Logistique: http://www.faq-logistique.com/ASLOG-Publications-Guide-Pratique-Transport-Multimodal.htm

        Intermodal Transport Unit (ITU) are units which are used to transport goods in intermodal transport. These ITU has been created to standardize and promote the intermodal transport. Thanks to the standardization, the ITU can be used everywhere and easily handled. Using these UTI brings a lot of advantages in intermodal transport. First the transshipment from one means to another is quicker because the ITU are standardized. Then, thanks to the ITU, the goods will be well protected during the transport.

        There is four type of ITU: The containers, the trailers, the swap bodies and the air container also called Unit Load Device (ULD). However, only three of them are used in rail transport and intermodal transport with rail.

1. The containers

        The container was invented in 1956 by Malcom McLean who found that the transshipment of bulk cargo was too long. The main asset of the container is the standardization. Indeed all the container have the same width (2.44 meters) but the length can be different. The two most commons containers are 20 feet (6m *2.5m *2.5m) or 40 feet (12m*2.5 m*2.5m). The 40 feet container can only load 25 pallets EURO because of its internal width. Thanks to the standardization, the container can be used everywhere and for rail, sea, road and inland waterway transport. Containers are therefore used a lot in intermodal transport because they can be easily transship from one means of transport to another’s.

1. The trailers

        The second ITU are the trailers. In intermodal transport, the trailers are used in case of a transport by road and by train. The trailers are 13.66 meters length and 2.55 meters width. 33 pallets EURO (80*120) or 26 pallets ISO (100*120) can be loaded in a trailer. The trailers can be loaded on train with different technique with the truck or not.[pic 1]

1. The Swap bodies

        The last ITU is the swap body. The Swap bodies were specially designed to be used in road and in rail-road combined transport. The swap bodies are 13.60 meters long and 2.55 meters wide. The swap bodies can be placed on fixed legs and are easily transferable from a road chassis to a railway car. However, the swap bodies cannot be stack and must be lifted by the bottom frame. That’s why they cannot be used in maritime transport.[pic 2]

1. Rail-Road intermodal transport

Source:

-The geography of transport systems: https://transportgeography.org/?page_id=3601

-Mediarail: http://mediarail.be/Fret/Intermodal/Ferroutage/Intro.htm

-PDF: 40 years of Road-Rail Combined transport in Europe: http://81.47.175.201/livingrail/attachments/article/715/Seidelmann-UIRR-2010-en-end-print-web.pdf

        Rail-road intermodal transport is one of the most developed combined transport. Indeed, the European Union wants to develop it to reduce the negative impact of road transport (congestion, pollution and accidents). The rail-road intermodal transport has a lot of advantages and some drawbacks. First I’m going to describe the three techniques of rail-road intermodal transport then I will analyse its advantages and its drawbacks. Finally I will present the rail-road intermodal terminal of Bettembourg in Luxembourg.

1. The three technologies in rail-road intermodal transport

There is three technologies in Rail-Road intermodal transport:

-Technology A: The rail motorway: the truck, the trailer and the driver are transported by the train

-Technology B: Only the trailer is transported on the train

-Technology C: Container or swap body transported on the train.

Technology A: The rail motorway

        This technology consist of transporting the truck, the trailer and the driver on the train for a long distance and in more case to cross a geographical barrier like a mountain. This technology was created in the 70’s by a European wagon manufacturers. A rolling motorway can carry 20 to 27 trailers and the loading is very easy and it can be done in 30 minutes. In this technology the loading can only be done by a horizontal loading. The first truck use a ramp at the end of the train to get on the wagon and then it drives over the other wagon till it reach the head of the train. When it’s done the driver get down of his truck and he go to the wagon dedicated to the driver where he can rest during the trip. [pic 3][pic 4]

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