Rail Freight Portal

Introduction

Delphine Margot — 2010-05-17T20:20:14Z


Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General

It is a pleasure to invite you to this second edition of the UIC Global Rail Freight Conference organised at the kind invitation of the Russian Railways RZD and their President Mr Vladimir Yakunin. This conference is one of the leading events in the international rail freight sector, dedicated to top executives and decision-makers, rail and logistics professionals, customers, influential politicians and regulators, and institutions from across the globe.

This day and age sees international trade flows creating new perspectives and needs for efficient, safe and economically viable transport, boosting sustainable performances – particularly on long-distance routes. This evolution reflects current growth patterns in world trade and constitutes the basis for a successful globally-oriented rail freight network. Cross-border corridors and modal logistics complementarity along many development issues are the tools for regional and international development. The International Union of Railways (UIC) together with its railway members is fully committed to meeting these new challenges and working together to transform these perspectives into reality.

I would also like to pay tribute to the Russian Railways, pioneers in the long-distance freight and economic exchanges between Asia and Europe and a major contributor to Russia's economic growth, whose role is crucial for railway cooperation. Finally, I take this opportunity to warmly thank Mr Vladimir Yakunin for his kind invitation and for welcoming us in St Petersburg.

Jean-Pierre LOUBINOUX UIC Director General

Programme

Delphine Margot — 2010-05-17T20:20:08Z

The conference will take place at the Astoria and Angelterre hotels in Saint Petersburg on 6-7 July. Participants who arrive to Saint Petersburg the day before, on 5 July, will be able to register and are warmly welcome to a drinks reception from 19.00 to 20.30.

Day 1 (July 6)


Conference programme 6 July

The conference will kick-off with an opening ceremony followed by a grand opening session. High-level speakers such as Vladimir Yakunin, President (RZD), and Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, General Director (UIC), will welcome participants to Saint Petersburg. The first day will consist of a four-part programme.

Day 2 (July 7)


Conference programme 7 July

The second day will address important topics such as "Wagonload - thriving in North America, surviving in Europe?" and Combined traffic "The need to drive efficiency". The conference will end with a grand closing session.

Speakers

Gustav Manding — 2010-05-17T20:19:59Z

The Global Rail Freight Conference will be a significant event in the international rail freight calendar 2010. Top executives of the railways undertakings and important decision makers will be participating in this appealing event.

Confirmed speakers:

Vladimir Yakunin, President RZD
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, General Director UIC
Dr. Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Board Member DB
Dr. Sebastian Jürgens, Member of the Board HHLA
Lance Hockridge, CEO Queensland Rail
Alexey Averin, Vice President International RZD
Stig Nerdal, CEO Transportutveckling
Dr. Alexander Hedderich, CEO of DB Schenker Rail
Dr. Christoph Seidelmann, Vice President B.I.C
Ferdinand Schmidt, Member of the Executive Board RCA
Brooks A. Bentz, Partner - Supply Chain Transportation, Accenture
Julian Smith, Partner - Global rail sector and transport infrastructure leader, PwC
Henry Posner III, President and Chairman Railroad and Development Corporation
Jacques Koch, General Manager, Purchasing & Procurement Europe ArcelorMittal
Dr. Martin Streichfuss, Partner, Roland Berger

Interview

Delphine Margot — 2010-05-17T20:19:35Z

“Our goal is to create a global rail freight summit which should be the reference for rail and logistics conferences. This event should be cemented in the rail freight calendar and be repeated annually with the aim of tackling the most interesting railway topics on a recurrent basis,” says Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General.


Jean-Pierre LOUBINOUX, UIC Director General (Copyright: J-J D'ANGELO)

Following its success in New Delhi, GRFC 2010 marks its second edition by bringing together the sector's top executives and decision makers, rail and logistics professionals, customers, influential politicians and regulators, and institutions from across the globe for an integrated and interactive event.

Under the patronage of the UN and in cooperation with a large number of international organisations, the conference will feature leading rail freight figures speaking on key freight issues.

This conference will serve as a launch pad for the exchange of best practices, networking with rail professionals from all around the world and, in addition, furnish them with the opportunity to discuss new perspectives and needs for efficient, safe and economically viable transport solutions. “The Trans-Siberian rail route, the major freight route between Asia and Europe, offers a fully developed container service across the Eurasian land bridge. With its central position the Russian Railways plays a pivotal role in the success of cooperation and development between these two continents. This is why we decided to organize this conference in St Petersburg”, explains Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the conference?

It will be a two-day conference covering the most relevant global freight issues. Key topics such as how the global recession is affecting rail opportunities will be debated as well as the customer benefits of having rail as a base in their global supply chain. “UIC organizes conferences with the aim of facilitating a platform for networking among rail professionals and deliberating rail opportunities and problems throughout the industry. For these reasons we have invited top-level executives from all over the world to provide you with the most up-to-date information of the rail sector”, says Jean-Pierre Loubinoux.

Could you tell us more about UIC's role in the freight sector?


Oliver Sellnick, UIC Freight Director

“UIC's role in the freight sector is to promote rail freight by assisting members to either increase revenues with an improved competitiveness of products or to reduce costs with harmonized operational, information and business processes. To achieve this, UIC works as a facilitator and neutral manager of multilateral cooperation in non-competitive areas, and organises knowledge transfer with the help benchmarks, workshops and conferences. The UIC Freight Forum comprises project groups developing cooperative solutions and services for combined traffic, wagonload and intercontinental landbridges. It entertains standing groups to improve operations and to apply information technology, to stimulate quality improvements and to facilitate mutual wagon use”, says Oliver Sellnick, UIC Freight Director.

What are the key trends in the industry?

Combined traffic has been the only growth segment of rail for decades. It has facilitated the integration of rail into logistic chains and has helped rail to benefit from the dynamic growth of container-based sea traffic between the continents. However, railways usually complain about a low margin in Europe leading to a lack of investments into capacity. While the need for infrastructure investments to resolve bottlenecks of track and terminal networks is undisputed, railway operators, intermodal operators, terminal managers and infrastructure managers have to work together in a more intelligent way if they want to optimise the capacity utilisation of the given infrastructure at any time. The « Masterplan 2015 for Combined Traffic in Europe » (UIC Diomis report) provides a whole set of proposals for all stakeholders. It points to a stronger industrialisation of combined traffic creating sustainable economics without which railways will not be able to fulfil the public expectations for a modal shift. Railroads in other parts of the world have achieved higher levels of efficiency. An exchange during the Global Rail Freight Conference might stimulate the development.

Wagonload is still for most of the larger European networks the lion's share of their business and even more so of their costs. Two strategies have emerged in the last few years. Trenitalia, Fret SNCF and RENFE believe in converting wagonload business as far as possible to new production schemes not so different from block trains. CD Cargo, CFL Cargo, DB Schenker Rail, Green Cargo, Rail Cargo Austria, SBB Cargo and SNCB Cargo have set up the international production alliance Xrail , based on the assumption that a standardised, transparent and reliable product will allow to grow profitable long distance wagonload business in Europe. “But considering the commercial success on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, isn't there anything the Europeans could learn from North America? I believe capacity management could be the key to become both reliable as well as to reduce the costs”, says Oliver Sellnick.

What are the benefits of using rail freight?

Apart from being the safest transport mode, rail is the most environmentally-friendly mode. Today the global share of CO2 emissions from transport is 23%, and it is expected to rise to 33% by 2050. Rail can curb the emissions of the transport sector by offering low carbon logistics solutions. One example, which will facilitate the awareness of rail freight's competitiveness, is the European Environment Agency-approved EcoTransIT tool. “Accessible via the internet, it calculates the carbon emissions produced by transporting a defined tonnage of freight in Europe by road, water, air or rail. In May we launch the world version of this tool, which will enable us to provide carbon foot-prints of logistical chains on global level.” explains Oliver Sellnick.

What does the future hold for rail freight? What are the key drivers for success? Strong players have been using the times of reduced demand during the crisis for streamlining processes and for intensifying the dialogue with existing and potential customers. The key will be – more than ever – how railways can deliver on the promise to create value for their customers. Rail Freight has enormous potential if the railways can create seamless transport solutions tailored to customer needs and embedded to their logistic chains.

Finally, to conclude, what would the last key message be from your side?

“This will be an exciting conference and excellent opportunity to share views with a world network of rail freight specialists and actors .Don't miss it ” says Jean-Pierre Loubinoux. “It will provide you with a unique overview of the latest trends of the railway sector from a business point of view and give you the opportunity to exchange ideas in a global but at the same time intimate atmosphere,” says Oliver Sellnick.

Facts and figures

Gustav Manding — 2010-04-01T15:08:00Z

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Services

comprehensive logistical service in the field of conventional transport (transporting wagons, fuel tanks, cartrains, dangerous goods ...) and in the combined transport (transporting containers, swap bodies, trucks ...),
logistical centres in Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje and Koper,
transport planning, advising on safety measures and cargo loading,
reliability, speed, safety and in-time delivery,
guaranteed and competitive transport times,
warehousing of goods,
door-to-door delivery with complete logistics,
control and monitoring of freight,
high-quality transports,
simple way of making business.

Network of direct block trains:

Steel Express Serbia: Serbia (Smederevo) - Slovenia – Italy
Steel Express Slovakia: Slovakia (Košice) - Slovenia – Italy
Steel Express Hungaria: Hungary (Dunavivaros) – Slovenia – Italy
Jesen: Austria (Enns) – Slovenia (Port of Koper)
Arad: Slovenia (Novo Mesto/Sežana/Port of Koper) – Romania (Arad)
Ljubljana Line: Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) – Germany (Munchen)
Breza: Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) - Bohemia (Breclav/Brno)
France (Lyonn /Padova) - Italy (Bologna/Verona/Milano) – Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog)
Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) – Serbia (Novi Sad)
Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) – Bulgaria (Sofija)
Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) - Bosnia and Hercegovina (Sarajevo)
Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) – Ukraine (Zahony)
Slovenia (Ljubljana Zalog) – Turkey (Instanbul Halkali)
Slovenia (Port of Koper) – Rome (Curtici)
Slovenia (Port of Koper) – Austria (Kalsdorf)
Slovenia (Port of Koper) – Slovakia (Dunajska Streda)
Slovenia (Port of Koper- Hungary (Bp. Soroksári út/ Szolnok/ Budaörs/ Soroksár Terminál/)
Slovenia (Port of Koper) - Bohemia (Vratimov)
Slovenia (Porto f Koper)– Slovakia (Žilina)

All transfer lines are reversible (vica verse). The final and starting stations ensure the further connection to desired final destinations.

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Introduction

Gustav Manding — 2010-04-01T15:07:58Z

Slovenske železnice (Slovenian Railways)

Slovenske železnice is a well established Slovenian company. It is the biggest railway service provider in Slovenia and offers railway transport and logistic services as well intermodal transport services. In 2008, Slovenske železnice had a turnover of almost 400 million Euros. This turnover comprises freightages, incomes from passenger services and other sources of revenue such as real estate. Slovenske železnice transports 19 million tonnes of goods annually and runs about 200 freight trains a day. It co-operates with all major European railway operators and offers solutions for the transportation of different types of goods.

Slovenske železnice connects traffic flows from North-West and Central Europe, to South-East Europe and all the way to Turkey. The Slovenian railway network is located on the V. and X. Pan-European corridors, which meet in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana. Slovenske železnice ensures a direct connection from the Luka Koper (Port of Koper) to various destinations in Slovenia and countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Comprehensive logistic services

Slovenske železnice provides a comprehensive logistical service in the field of conventional transport (transporting wagons, fuel tanks, cartrains, dangerous goods ...), as well as in the combined transport (transporting containers, swap bodies, trucks ...). It provides also door to door delivery of small consignments and offers fast, reliable and high-quality transport, competitive prices for the entire transport route. Other services comprise transport planning, advising on safety measures and cargo loading.

Bringing competitive solutions to the customers is of the utmost importance to Slovenske železnice. Services can at any point be adjusted to customers' needs and preferences. Customers who need short delivery times for goods in large quantities can be served by complete trains, customers who need smaller quantities to be transported at competitive terms will be offered either wagon load services or door-to-door services.

Well served are railways traffic flows cross Slovenia in whatever directions on the all-European network. Slovenske železnice provides its customers flexible and modern cargo services which are characterised by their quality and reliability. Customers can profit from the on-line information system, guaranteed and competitive transport times, warehousing of goods, delivery of goods to final users, door-to-door delivery with complete logistics, cargo wagons for different goods, control and monitoring of cargo and its customers' friendly way of making business.

Modern business approaches and best logistic solutions

Slovenske železnice with its partners also provide special tailor-made logistic services. Goods are delivered in set transport times and to many European destinations. Slovenske železnice continuously develops its services in terms of capacities and quality management.

If you need a new train connection Slovenske železnice has the right solution for you. It provides set transport times and connections to other European transport routes.

Direct connection to the Port of Koper Slovenske železnice ensure a direct connection from the Port of Koper to many destinations in Slovenia and countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Besides many direct trains between the Port of Koper and the hinterland, Slovenske železnice also offer wagon loads services on daily basis to the gateway in Ljubljana Zalog, where many international freight trains start. ther trains run from Koper to Sežana (to Italy) and to Maribor Tezno or viceversa.

In Koper it offers a complete logistical service, including access to the port terminals for various type of cargo. Customers can profit from the warehouse with three halls, totalling 9.300 m2 of warehousing space. The warehouse is located near the entrance. At the cargo stations Koper tovorna and Koper Luka customers can arrange custom duties. Minor wagon repairs can be performed at the Koper tovorna station.

Representative offices Slovenske železnice has its representative offices in Austria, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, as well in Serbia. Slovenske železnice expands its sales network in key markets and promotes the internationalization of business. According to plans, in April 2010, an office will be opened in Prague, Czech Republic.

Link to the Slovenian Railways

Contact us

Gustav Manding — 2010-04-01T15:07:54Z

- Slovenian Railways

Best practices

Gustav Manding — 2010-04-01T15:07:53Z

Bosphorus Europe Express: your gateway to Turkey

Connection between Turkey and Slovenia and other countries of the European Union is an important part of the tenth Pan-European corridor, so the quality of transport services is even more important. A bright future is expected for the railways as the trade flows from Turkey to Europe and vice versa may generate full train loads and container cargo.


Europe - Turkey in no time

Container terminals Ljubljana in Slovenia and Halkali in Istanbul, Turkey, seem to be on the right path to fulfil the increasing market demand. Ljubljana offers good connections to the Port of Koper, as well to Italy, Austria, Germany and the Benelux countries. On the other side, Halkali connects well to the hinterland in Turkey, to the Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, as well to Asia. Last but not least, the environmental benefits and savings generated by the railways are also huge.


Train Bosphorus Europe Express

Slovenske železnice in partnership with AdriaKombi and Kombiverkehr, offering services to customers in Slovenia, Germany and Turkey, started to operate on the route Ljubljana –Halkali (Instanbul) in 2008. The transported volumes have increased and by April 2010 three trains a week have been running from Ljubljana to Turkey. The product is called Bosphorus Europe Express and is a result of the co-ordinated efforts of railway undertakings and infrastructure managers of Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Turkish Railways.

The partners' goal is to reduce the transit time and to offer customers even more competitive railway services between Europe and Turkey. In 2008, the partners analysed the possibilities for improving the train's transit time. They targeted on how to increase the train's speed and how to optimise activities at border stations. A contribution to the transit time reduction at the test run in March 2010 was possible by the introduction of an interoperable multi-system locomotive and diesel locomotive, which was offered by MRCE Dispolok. Under these specific conditions the promotional train reached its destination within 35 hours.

The test run of the train Bosphorus Europe Express showed that only by working very closely railway operators can be competitive in comparison to the road and maritime transportation. The test run had been given a priority on the entire route, but did not interfere to the priority of passenger trains. The merit for such a successful outcome (1597 km in 35 hours) goes clearly to the optimization of technological processes at the borders. Beside the railwaymen of the participating railways, i.e. infrastructure managers and successive carriers, there had been also an active involvement of public authorities, i.e. customs, police and inspection services.


The fastest and most environmental friendly transport to Turkey

Actually, the train covers a distance of 1577 km in approximately 50 hours, which means in 10 hours less than in March 2009. Although this can be regarded as a good result, the partner railways are still aiming to improve the quality of their services on the tenth Pan-European corridor, and to increase their competitiveness. A further improvement in terms of transit time, the goal is 30 hours, will be possible once the railway infrastructure on the entire route will be improved, the interconnection of electronic data exchange set up and the technical and commercial confidence completed. All these improvements have been set as a long-term goal.

Interview

Gustav Manding — 2010-04-01T15:07:50Z

This year Slovenske železnice (SŽ) is embarking on a fascinating and exciting new journey, a journey that will last 14 years and see many improvements put on track - a radical transformation with a strong government commitment. “If we want to modernise our national railways we'll first have to invest in modernisation”, says Robert Vuga, Director of the freight division. Since October 2009 he has had 100% support for this from the recently appointed General Manager of SŽ, Goran Brankovič. Right away, in his maiden speech, Brankovič announced that he wanted to turn around the negative business trends, without wanting to compromise employees' social situation.

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Robert Vuga, DIRECTOR OF FREIGHT TRANSPORT, SŽ

“Unfortunately we are still facing the consequences of a monopoly situation and the resulting context in which everything is felt to be a matter of course”, continues Robert Vuga. “Since the liberalisation of the markets, competition is a new and menacing fact for us. But let's be clear about this, I would not describe our present position as tragic since we have drawn up a strategy and are putting it in place right now. First of all I am planning to rectify the situation we inherited from the past. Secondly, I plan to restructure and, finally, I'm thinking of a strategic partnership. But take note, we aren't looking for someone to take over the company in its present state, that's only for when we are doing better, so that we can offer real added value.”

Emulating DB's success

Robert Vuga: “The mainstays we're aiming for now are, on the one hand, financial consolidation, streamlining the operations and renewing the infrastructure and, on the other, better penetration of foreign markets and increasing our marketing efforts. I admit, we still have a long way to go, but it's certainly not wrong to try and emulate Deutsche Bahn's success. Twenty years ago DB was one of the German government's biggest budgetary problems, nowadays it's one of the most successful companies. I am sure that, with the involvement of the Slovenian government and the European Union, we can turn this into a success story.”

Robert Vuga: “What has not helped us, or any other European railway company, is the enormous impact of the economic slump. In the first nine months of 2009 Slovenske železnice recorded a loss of 30.9 million euros – by far the largest part of that in our freight division. In the end the number of tons transported dropped from 19.0 million in 2008 to 14.6 million tons in 2009. Expressed in tonne-kilometres production fell to around 3 billion tkm. Conventional freight transport, in particular, received some heavy blows, mainly due to the recession in the steel and automobile industries, as well as the sharp downturn in Slovenia's most important economic markets. Intermodal traffic underwent a drop of ‘only' 15 per cent.”

Continued investment in the future

Robert Vuga: “Of course freight transport is an international business in our society – some 90 per cent of the total number of tons transported is linked to bilateral trade with Slovenia or transit traffic. The immediate measures we took were in fact not so different from other European operators: cost-cutting, adjusting production capacity, slowing down planned investments, the introduction of a part-time employment programme for over 10 per cent of our staff, and an agreement with the trade unions to reduce salaries by 5 to 10 per cent.”

Robert Vuga: “Parallel to these measures sales and marketing activities for new service offerings were boosted. In any case we were careful not to shoot ourselves in the foot. After all, cutting production capacity too much, without a clear objective, might soon have caused problems once the industry picks up again. Despite the unfavorable circumstances we continue to invest in new lines and foreign markets with a view to the future.”

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Introduction

Gustav Manding — 2010-03-02T13:32:56Z

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SBB Cargo is a subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and is based in Basel, Switzerland's logistics capital. SBB Cargo transports goods for its customers by rail. The company operates in Switzerland and connects industrial centres in Germany and northern Italy. Quality, safety and reliability are the attributes that enable SBB Cargo to compete successfully with other rail and road transport companies.

In Switzerland SBB Cargo is the market leader in rail freight. SBB Cargo operates a comprehensive network for its customers, with totally 323 delivery points. In addition it serves its customers with 200 flexible transport concepts extending beyond the basic network. With its range of tailor-made services, SBB Cargo can deliver individual wagons to the customer's siding, provide rapid overnight freight transport, or haul bulk goods on "block trains". SBB Cargo also offers reliable transport services to customers wishing to import or export goods.

SBB Cargo applies an end-to-end freight handling philosophy throughout the European North-South corridor. Customers thus have a single partner whom they can always rely on. SBB Cargo is the first rail company to have established subsidiaries in Germany and Italy. SBB Cargo Deutschland (based in Duisburg) and SBB Cargo Italia (based in Gallarate) operate in their respective countries with their own locomotives and their own staff. ChemOil Logistics, a subsidiary of SBB Cargo, specialises in logistics for petroleum and chemical products.

Our offer: Railfreight – Swiss made

In Switzerland, we transport wagons and wagon groups with the utmost reliability throughout our network, from customer siding to customer siding or loading platform. And all this overnight – or even Express if required. Customers dispatch their goods today, they arrive tomorrow. Our services keep over 7,000 trucks off the roads each day, ensuring the environmental impact is greatly reduced.

SBB Cargo offers its customers the option of cross-border wagonload services from a single source. Our trains between Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy as well as transports in cooperation with our partner freight railways are the alternative to road freight. We design the delivery or collection arrangements to cater for our customer's needs (end-to-end transport).

Cargo Train is the service for large consignments of materials such as oil, steel, aggregate, coal, building materials, cars, and timber, among others. We transport 1,300 net tons of freight annually in block trains, both in Switzerland and beyond, to arrive punctually 365 days a year. SBB Cargo offers two levels of block train service. FIX enables customers to order a regular monthly schedule in which all the departure and arrival times are planned in advance. FLEXI can be planned at short notice, allowing to order trains on the basis of a weekly schedule.

SBB Cargo also has a solution for when the sender or the recipient has no access to a siding. The goods are transferred at existing loading platforms and/or terminals. This intermodal solution (for regular, scheduled trips) is also available for import/export runs and can use standard containers, interchangeable containers or Cargo Domino containers, depending on each customer's needs. SBB Cargo is the expert in international intermodal freight. Our single-source production and our expertise in delivering benchmark European cross-border services makes us a preferred partner for various major European operators, who value the quality, reliability and punctuality of the services we provide. The annual punctuality average for cross-border services is regularly over 80% (trains arriving on time or with a delay of less than one hour).

In addition to its freight transport services, SBB Cargo also offers a wide range of additional rail-related logistics services covering all areas of rail freight. A few examples:

Marshalling the customer's own wagons
Fleet management
Loading and unloading wagons
Customs clearance
Freight tracking
Sector-specific logistics advice
Organisation of carriage to and from the railhead
A range of loading equipment
Returnable equipment (pallets)

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