World Champion Austria Logistics
More companies are putting their trust in railways More and more goods want to be transported from A to B in a climate-neutral way with service-oriented processes.
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train. Rola has particular significance in regions such as Tyrol, which are highly affected by road traffic: Every year about 2.4 million HGVs drive on Tyrol’s roads, and the figures are pointing upwards. In 2019, ÖBB moved 151,274 HGVs from the road onto rail tracks, thereof 124,873 on the leg Wörgl-Brenner and 9,162 on the leg Wörgl-Trento alone. The gross capacity on the Brenner Pass was 206,000 HGVs per year at the start of 2019; as of early 2020 this figure rose to 250,000 with Rola. The Rail Cargo Group wants to ultimately increase this number to 400,000 HGVs per year, which would be double as much as only two years ago. The increased need for Rola also stems from the partial driving ban for HGV’s in Tyrol, which came into effect on 1 January 2020. In only a short amount of time, the Rail Cargo Group saw demand shoot up by about 32 percent. From 1 January to February 2019 Rola transported 16,165 HGVs; in the same period 2020 there were already 21,934 HGVs on the Brenner Pass. When you are looking at only the first two weeks in February, the year-on-year increase is at 40 percent. With its 200,000 transported HGVs per year the Rail Cargo Group is the European leader in Rolling Road offers. Rail Cargo Austria has more to offer than just Rolling Roads; we spoke to Clemens Först, spokesman of the Board, about the future of freight transport. Clemens Först, spokesman of the Board of Rail Cargo Austria
Rolling Road European land freight transport continues to grow quickly but unfortunately mainly on roads. ÖBB is working to transfer freight transport onto rails. One of many such initiatives is the “Rolling Road” (“Rollende Landstraße” or Rola in short). This particular transport system allows entire heavy goods vehicles – trailers and trucks – to take parts of their route via
Photo: RCG/Scheiblecker
he constant further development of the overall system of mobility, logistics and infrastructure plays a central role within the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB, its annual report 2019 states. The focus within this context is on customer’s benefit and increasing capacity, productivity and quality. ÖBB is aware of its important role as a driver of innovation in the Austrian railways industry and the entire mobility sector. Its operations go along the corporation’s strategic goals, current trends and future needs. Technological key aspects include automation, alternative drivetrains, generating new services for customers and implementing new processes, particularly those backed by data. This concerns the railway business in general. In freight transport, ÖBB is already developing smart innovative logistics solutions of tomorrow. The Rail Cargo Group, ÖBB’s internationally operating freight transport subsidy, is now on the way to a bright future with a digitisation programme.
