The rapid and adequate transhipment of railway units remains one of the greatest challenges for railway transport research. A cost-efficient solution is the key to sustainable competitiveness and intermodalidy. The automation of the transhipment process is the key factor that triggers the increase of transport volumes and reduction of operation times.
According to several studies of the UIC-GTC, an advance of transhipment units of 1.7 million by 2015 was observed. Under the circumstances, terminals will not be able to develop efficient shunting and high freight volumes activities using the existing technology.
To make this activity efficient, the FastRCargo project was launched for developing a new transhipment system with a significant impact on rail transport innovations. This consists in the rapid loading and unloading of intermodal transport units (trucks and wagons), the existing equipment permitting parallel loading processes. The system provides attractive transport services which support the new railway methods and help balance transport modes. The transhipment process is made of two interactive subsystems designed based on advanced automation techniques.
The FastRCargo technological objectives include the development and testing of modular components and shunting machines by integrating all parties in two types of subsystems: the lifting and loading unit and the freight shunting platform.
Therefore, the developed components include horizontal transhipment equipments, the development of modular equipments for very fast and automated transhipment either parallel or serial. Also, for developing efficient operations a transhipment control system is needed to ensure safety and performance.
Compared to existing systems, the difference consists in the shunting system: these are not installed in the above part of the container, but in the lower part, the transhipment operation being carried out by two new components of the system: a group of four loading units and the shunting platform. The transhipment process is carried out on parallel railway lines with an auxiliary line of at least two junctions leading to the main line.
To meet certification demands, specific elements in designing the railways were developed, as well as operation stan-
dards, a control centre and a sophisticated inter-node for the transport activity.
The FastRCargo project focuses on automated operations for loading/unloading intermodal units, thus encouraging the increasing performance of rail freight transport operations.
Share on:
