The European subsidiary of RailRunner intermodal transport company, based in the United States, plans to launch its first intermodal transport service in Europe on July 31st. It will connect the port cities of Bratislava (Slovakia) and Braunschweig (Germany).
The block train connection between the Port of Brunswick and the Port of Bratislava operates on a daily basis and will start with pocket wagons and conventional craneable MEGA trailers, swap bodies and containers in the first instance. Traction on the Czech route will be provided by ČD Cargo while EGP (Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam) operates on the German route.
In the first phase, RailRunner will collect and document a large number of data on capacity, utilization, traction energy requirements, handling capacity and additional relevant factors.
The second phase is expected to begin after the bimodal RailRunner technology has been approved in 2019, while the conventional technology will be replaced by the RailRunner specific equipment in this rail connection. The weight-intensive use of pocket wagons and the need for heavy handling equipment like reach stackers and portal cranes becomes no longer necessary. Instead of 36 semitrailers it becomes possible to transport probably 42 semitrailers under the same conditions (train length and gross weight).
Share on:
