DVF Forum at transport logistic on Combined Transport

According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, Combined Transport (CT) is expected to nearly double by 2040. This makes CT a growth engine in freight transport. With trimodality, digitalization, and innovative transshipment technologies, CT offers sustainable solutions for increasing traffic volumes. But how can the path to the “Next Level” be concretely achieved, and what policy decisions must be made to create the necessary framework for companies?

At the DVF Forum at the transport logistic trade fair, experts from business and politics explained their demands and solutions.

Dr. Jörg Mosolf, CEO of Mosolf SE and member of the DVF Presidium, initially addressed four essential measures necessary for the further development of CT: “CT is already more than just the transshipment and organization of pre- and post-haulage. The technologies and the willingness of companies are available. But investments and flexibility from the political side are lacking. Therefore, we need, first, more redundancy and resilience in the rail infrastructure. Second, terminal networks must be formed and promoted cross-border in Europe and abroad. Third, the special fund for infrastructure for innovative transshipment technologies and network concepts must be utilized. And fourth, there must be automation of rail freight transport and its rapid approval by the Federal Railway Authority and the European Railway Agency. Networking starts in the mind!”

Reinhard Oswald, Sales Manager at Ernst Frankenbach GmbH Spedition, also advocated for an expansion of CT funding: “The existence of an intact infrastructure is one of the decisive criteria in European competition. It would be desirable to politically support necessary investments in the already existing CT infrastructure.”

Florian Dirr from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Department G 14 “Freight Transport and Logistics,” assessed the current federal funding as extremely effective support for Combined Transport. “The replacement of existing, aging CT transshipment facilities and measures for digitalization and automation in CT transshipment facilities are now being specifically promoted.” Additionally, the investments in transport infrastructure outlined in the coalition agreement, as well as the acceleration of planning and approval of infrastructure projects, will make an important contribution to eliminating existing barriers to further expanding CT.

To unlock further potential in CT, according to Oswald, stronger digitalization is essential. “In principle, the industry will certainly have to take several more steps to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles, for example. Furthermore, digitalization is needed to offer individual and tailored solutions.” However, to unlock further potential in CT and to be prepared for low water phases, it ultimately has to be about collaboration among all modes of transport and utilizing their respective advantages. Additionally, attracting more skilled workers with CT expertise is, according to Oswald, another crucial factor for the industry.

“CT will continue to play a central role in European logistics in the future and, in conjunction with electrified trucks in pre- and post-haulage, will provide efficient, CO₂-neutral door-to-door solutions for trade and industry,” said Nicole Tews, partner at Oliver Wyman, regarding the further development of CT. For this, “collaboration in the industry and investment in customer orientation and accessibility, in digitalization and end-to-end integration, as well as efficient and flexible operations” are needed. This was examined in more detail in the study “winning intermodal.”

“We are ready for renovation,” said Armin Riedl, Managing Director of Kombiverkehr GmbH & Co KG, when the topic of rail infrastructure came up. However, he expressed concern about the method of complete closures in the rail network: “No one would think of completely closing the most important highways for half a year or longer.” With the months-long closures of rail corridors, there is a risk that many privately operated freight railways will run out of business. “Then we might end up with a more efficient rail network, but no competition left.” Riedl also called for a reform of track pricing. “And there needs to be privileged tracks for CT trains – where necessary, even at the expense of passenger transport. There are intelligent solutions if InfraGO would invest a little more in the urgently needed overtaking tracks,” Riedl continued.

Combination of Passenger and Freight Transport on Rail

Amazon also uses rail passenger transport for freight transport, said Spyros Kalpogiannis, Senior Manager Intermodal at Amazon Transportation Services. As an example, he mentioned the high-speed transport between Lyon and Paris, where over half a million packages were transported on the passenger high-speed train at 320 km/h this year. “Such integration of passenger and freight transport would also create new opportunities for more sustainable logistics solutions in Germany. Amazon aims to operate CO₂-neutral in all business areas by 2040, with intermodal transport playing a central role. In recent years, we have significantly expanded our European transport network with over 500 intermodal routes and increasingly utilize shipping and rail connections for the transport of packages and goods.”

Photo: © DVF / Caption: (l.r.): Constantin Lehnert, European Policy, Rail Technology, Rail Transport, DVF; Dr. Florian Eck, Managing Director of DVF; Karsten Keil, Member of the Management Board, Vice President Group IT & Digitization, Schnellecke Group AG & Co. KG; Moderation: Matthias Rathmann, Rathmann Communications; Thomas Zysk, Co-Founder / COO, SWAP INNOVATIONS GmbH; Daniela Paitzies, Head of Digital Networking, Freight Transport and Logistics, Infrastructure, DVF;​​​​​ Tobias Jerschke, Member of the Presidium of the German Transport Forum, Chairman of the Management Board, Kühne + Nagel (AG & Co.) KG; Steffen Bauer, Chief Executive Officer, HGK Shipping GmbH; Ulrich Wrage, Chairman of the Board of Dakosy AG; Dr. Heike van Hoorn, Managing Director of DVF.