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EU-Projekt ESTRaB

EU Project ESTRaB

The freight transport revolution has begun

The CargoBeamer will be a boost for shifting transport onto trains – it is targeting 60% of all HGV journeys (Photo CargoBeamer AG)

ESTRaB stands for:

Efficient

Semi-Trailer

Transport on

Rail

Baltica

CargoBeamer: teaching trucks to use the railways

The project ‘Efficient Semi-Trailer Transport on Rail Baltica’ is supporting the market introduction of the CargoBeamer, a new technology for handling freight transport. The CargoBeamer can load so-called semi-trailers onto trains, which would make around 60% of all HGV journey redundant. The European Commission is supporting the project with funds from the Marco Polo II programme because it has seen an opportunity to make transit transport, particularly to Eastern Europe, more efficient and environmentally friendly.

60 % of all HGVs on trains

Over 60 percent of all HGVs on Europe’s motorways use semi-trailers, but only two percent of these semi-trailers have been adapted so that they can be loaded onto environmentally friendly trains. The CargoBeamer loading technology, made up of new types of terminals and wagons, makes it possible to transport all existing semi-trailers by rail – without having to be adapted. This means that semi-trailers can now finally profit from the advantages of the combined transport system, in which the larger part of the transport journey is by rail and rest by road.

CargoBeamer: faster and cheaper

suitable for all semi-trailers (not just those adapted for cranes)
loads/unloads the semi-trailers in parallel at the same time
can also be used under overhead cables
no need for shunting wagons
the time to load and unload is only 15 minutes
compared with road-only transport, CargoBeamer can reduce the cost of a unit of freight by more than 10 percent, depending on the route

Compatible with existing systems

The CargoBeamer technology complements existing, large-scale combined-transport terminals for road and rail. CargoBeamer wagons can also use the traditional crane terminals, which means that no insular solutions or parallel systems will evolve – essential for a ‘networked’ system like the railways.

The EU project ESTRaB

The first CargoBeamer terminal will be in Leipzig, Germany (Photo: CargoBeamer AG)

From Rotterdam to Riga

The project ESTRaB will test and introduce the CargoBeamer system on the route between the Netherlands and Lithuania. By 2014, CargoBeamer terminals will have been constructed in Leipzig (Germany) and Mockava (Lithuania) and CargoBeamer wagons will have been manufactured, tested and licensed. The works terminal was opened in 2010 and has already been licensed by the EBA. In 2014, the CargoBeamer system will begin operations on the route between Rotterdam and Riga.

On track for Eastern Europe

The CargoBeamer system solves the break of gauge problem for transit transport to Eastern Europe. The whole of Eastern Europe uses a broader gauge than Western Europe, which means that trains have to be reloaded at the border, which generally takes 2 to 3 days. This is a disadvantage compared with road transport. With the CargoBeamer system, reloading is easier and faster, and is completed within less than an hour.

The role of the Pro-Rail Alliance

The Pro-Rail Alliance regards the CagoBeamer technology as a real transport policy opportunity for reducing the burden on Europe’s roads and its environment. The technology lays the foundations necessary for achieving a considerable modal freight transport shift onto the railways, as defined by transport policy. For this reason, the Pro-Rail Alliance is supporting the project with promotion and dissemination activities.