Railway PRO Summit: GFR, the first rail freight operator in Romania to launch an online application for customers

“The platform launched by Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR) is the first of its kind to operate not only on the Romanian market but also the first application launched by a private rail freight company in Europe. State-owned railway operators that launched similar applications include Deutsche Bahn in Germany, ÖBB in Austria and Rail Cargo Hungary”, Amedeo Neculce, Development Advisor within Grup Feroviar Roman, said on attending the Railway PRO Investment Summit, organised, in Bucharest on October 3-4, by Club Feroviar and Railway PRO, with the support of the Romanian Railway Industry Association (AIF).

“The customer receives a daily order status, by e-mail, which is also available within the application itself. It has a friendly interface that allows alerts issued by the customer or the operator.
We also have the opportunity to access the e-invoicing section and we will most likely implement it by mid-2018”, Amedeo Neculce mentioned.

Even if GFR is part of a national economy space considered conservative, in its development efforts, takes in account the increasing adherence to the online environment of its customers. In this space, GFR has to offer its customers increased comfort and the opportunity to get to know each other better.

GFR invites customers in its “habitat”, giving them the opportunity to have access directly to the entire transport process, from an informational point of view.

„This is the change of the paradigm: the huge jump in the transparency of the customer relationship, aspect invoked as a principle by all transport operators (through offers, contracts, marketing actions) but never fully implemented”, Neculce added.

He stated that the basis for the decision to launch such an innovative solution was the Regulation 1305/2014 laying down the standards for TAF TSIs (telematics applications for rail freight transport) in the idea of a sustainable interoperability.
The Regulation is operational since 2015.

The application launched by GFR contains a series of sections in accordance with the TAF TSI requirements, such as the Electronic Consignment Note, Path Requests, Wagon Search section or Rail Orders section.

Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR) is an integrally private owned Romanian company. Its main object of activity is the provision of rail freight transport services and services related to railway transport.

GFR is the biggest private rail transport operator in Romania which has managed to expand its activity beyond the country’s borders, thus becoming one of the most important regional players in the area.

GFR provides national and international railway services and related services tailored to the needs of its customers: railway freight transport, wagon shunting services on industrial platforms, periodical repairs and current maintenance of rail lines, freight cars and locomotive leasing, railway logistics services.

GFR holds a significant share in the Romanian railway transport market.

Currently, the company manages a fleet of around 400 locomotives and 15000 freight cars. Among GFR’s most important customers are leasing companies in the oil and gas industry, as well as automotive, steel and cement industries.


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