Ermewa, GATX, École Centrale de Lyon and Technische Universität Berlin signed an agreement to collaborate on the “Aero-Ferro Benchmark” collaborative project, involving German and French partners.
The four partners aim to stimulate similar approaches and fresh thinking in rail freight transport. This will include the production of scientific studies that compare the process designs, business models and safety cultures of the rail freight and aviation sectors and evaluate the opportunity of taking over best practise of both sectors.
“We want to create a high-flying rail sector. The aviation industry faces many of the same issues and challenges but – in the past – they have often found better solutions than we have,” Peter Reinshagen, Managing Director, at Ermewa said.
Over the next three years, graduate and undergraduate students in Lyon and Berlin will investigate various aspects of process design in the aviation and rail freight transport sectors. Their research will focus on important areas such as safety, maintenance and business models.
Research concepts and interim results will be presented and discussed next year at the first symposium near the German-French border. Additional workshops to accompany the project are planned.
“Systematic benchmarking is the gateway for an innovative and more efficient rail freight system. Both firmly believe that the rail sector must leave its comfort zone in order to significantly increase its share of the modal split. This includes questioning received wisdom and facing up to uncomfortable truths,” Johann Feindert, CEO of GATX Rail Europe, said.
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