Berlin: InnoTrans 2018
Presentation of the „innovative goods wagon“ on InnoTrans fair. Photo: Martin Brandt
While we often view the European rail freight sector as troubled by low margins and strong competition, on a world-wide scale the rail sector is booming, and this includes rail freight. A study by unife and Roland Berger estimates the yearly rail technology market at € 163.2 billion The study is available for € 2.700, which in itself speaks volumes. More and more, Chinese companies strive for technological leadership, as a result of the size of their home market and the speed of rail modernization in China.
Chinese study for fast freight train
On the InnoTrans, the Chinese company CRRC, the world’s largest rolling stock supplier, presented a study for a superfast freight train. The train is derived from a fast passenger train, with a maximum speed of 350 kph. The length of 200 meters is half the length of a typical long distance passenger train platform. In Europe this would allow coupling 2 such trains and running them within the restrictions of the passenger network, 3 such trains combined would be the length of a mainline freight train.
An individual train with a loading capacity of 120 tons and a cargo volume of 820 m3would offer about the dimensions of a wide-bodied aircraft. Apparently, it is designed for the same type of lightweight goods that is typical for air cargo.
In Europe, it has been assumed decades ago that such trains would be the norm for fast freight, but very few services have been established in the past. For successful operation, the trains need not only a network of long distance fast track, but also specific loading infrastructure on both ends of each train run.Reutlingen: New warning sign delivered
Photo: StaRT – Stadtmarketing und Tourismus Reutlingen GmbH
Changes in behaviour can create new risks. In the past, acquaintance with motorized traffic has been one reason for the reduction of accident rates in industrialized countries, despite growth in traffic. But these days the smartphone apparently is the first tool that is more fascinating than traffic or driving, and thus results in dangerous distraction. A warning sign one day appeared in the town of Reutlingen, near Stuttgart in southern Germany.
Frankfurt: “Logistiktram”
Frankfurt tram / Fine dust – a par-ticular matter also in Frankfurt. Photos: Philipp Gross (above), Martin Brandt (below)
A new approach on cargo trams is under testing in Frankfurt/Main, in combination with e-bikes. The tram brings rather large containers (“micro depots”) to various points in the city, where they are loaded on special e-bike trailers for further distribution of their content. For e-bike size, that would be yet another dimension.
Many specialists are sceptical about the added value of such a system, quoting congestion on tram routes: Unloading time at several stops soon adds up. On typical tram routes there is no chance for other trams to bypass. This would soon lead to congestion. Furthermore, the available trams usually are busy through peak hours. Tram dimensions and seat arrangement limit the available space for cargo containers.
However, in a certain way Frankfurt may be an exception to the rule: The specific advantage of Frankfurt is that most of its downtown tram lines now run underground. The remaining surface track in the inner city typically sees no more than one tram in four minutes per average, even in peak hours, which is much less than the utilization of downtown trunk lines in other big systems. On the other hand, at such big cities there always is a chance to set aside an old tram that no longer fits for passenger transport but can continue for many years in the low-mileage service of goods distribution. In this case it would even make sense to remove the seats.
Remains the question of how to work simultaneously for competing distribution services, which may be a larger challenge.
Planned special issue of “Applied Sciences” open access journal: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
“Dear Colleagues,
Climate change, urban air quality, and dependency on crude oil are important societal challenges. In the transportation sector, especially, clean and energy efficient technologies must be developed. Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) have gained a growing interest in vehicle industry. Nowadays, the commercialization of EVs and PHEVs has been possible in different applications (i.e., light duty, medium duty, and heavy duty vehicles) thanks to the advances in energy-storage systems, power electronics converters (incl. DC/DC converters, DC/AC inverters and battery charging systems), electric machines, and energy efficient power flow control strategies.
This Special Issue is focused on the recent advances in electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles that address the new powertrain developments and go beyond the state-of-the-art (SOTA).
Topics of interest include novel propulsion systems, emerging power electronics and their control algorithms, emerging electric machines and control techniques, energy storage systems, including BMS, efficient energy management strategies for hybrid propulsion systems, vehicle-to-grid(V2G), vehicle-to-home (V2H), grid-to-vehicle (G2V) technologies and wireless power transfer systems (WPTs).”
Prof. Dr. ir. Joeri Van Mierlo
Guest Editor, “Applied Science” journal
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Manuscripts can be submitted until the 31st of December 2018. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited.
LCA LOGISTIK CENTER Austria Süd GmbH joined Open ENLoCC
The LCA LOGISTIK CENTER Austria Süd GmbH in Fürnitz (Carinthia) has recently joined the Open ENLoCC network. It is located close to the Austrian logistics hotspot of Villach and promotes the large logistics area and “dry port” in Fürnitz, while at the same time engaging in logistics projects. Open ENLoCC members know the managing director Udo Tarmann from previous Open ENLoCC member “Entwicklungsagentur Kärnten”. A more detailed description of LCA will follow in a future issue of the “Review”.
People
Tomas Ambra, FWO PhD fellow Sustainable Logistics under guidance of prof. dr. Cathy Macharis from Open ENLoCC member MOBI of Brussels Free University, won the first prize for young researchers at TRA VISIONS 2018. The prizes were awarded at the end of the opening ceremony of the Transport Research Arena (TRA 2018) in Vienna. (synchronization model for Belgian inland transport), a computer model that combines features of geographic information systems, agent-based modelling and discrete event simulations to optimize synchro-modal transport. The first prize was awarded by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport. Congratulations to all the laureates! You can find an overview of all the winning articles in the TRA VISIONS 2018 press release.
Open Access journal on electric vehicles
- World Electric Vehicle Journal
The World Electric Vehicle Journal is the first peer-reviewed international scientific journal that covers all studies related to battery, hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles comprehensively. It features more than 700 interesting articles about e-mobility.
The World Electric Vehicle Journal is published periodically in conjunction with EVS, with Joeri Van Mierlo of Open ENLoCC member MOBI of Brussels Free University as editor in chief.
Exploring the relationship between urban freight demand and the purchasing behaviour of a University
- Aditjandra P, Zunder T, in: European Transport Research Review (2018), 10:1, 1-12
Instead of dealing with many receivers across a downtown area, why not start city logistics with a large institution? The authors find for the campus of Newcastle University “that training within specific staff roles would benefit the University’s urban freight coordination and management. We can also see that a very small core of people raise most of the orders and that, through them, it should be possible to influence the majority of orders. Lastly, demonstrating to the University’s Executive that employee views on private purchasing directly influence the practice, has convinced the board that changing purchasing behaviour towards freight efficiency is a feasible option for a sustainable institutional organisation.”
Topical collection on the role of planning towards sustainable urban mobility
- Brůhová Foltýnová H, Maria Attard M, Melo S, in: European Transport Research Review (2018) 10:38
“In Europe, 74% of the population live and work in cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, the share of urban population is expected to grow further up to 82% by 2050” (quote from the article).The article gives an overview on publications on planning towards sustainable urban mobility.
The collection covers not just the mobility of people, but also of goods: “Four of the papers presented in this issue focus on urban logistics and the other three deal with personal transport in urban areas. Geographically, this collection covers examples from the EU, USA and Israel. The papers contribute to the actual planning practice and decision-making at the city and institutional level, using different approaches.”