For several years, refrigerated or perishable goods transport has seen a downfall at international level, due to the increasing competition of other modes of transport and the supermarkets who do not encourage this type of transport. Despite this fact and despite the economic crisis which affected the freight transport sector, major European operators have launched refrigerated goods transport services which cross several countries. This measure is very promising for the recovery of this type of transport. The main advantage of railway perishable goods transport is brought by the reduced costs, compared to other modes of transport. In the end, this will help reduce the cost of products in supermarkets.
The success of railway perishable goods transport was proven by the first refrigerated goods transport service in Europe, which was launched at the end of 2009 by British operator Stobart Rail, in collaboration with DB Schenker. This service carries fresh products from Spain, along a 1.700 km long route which crosses three countries: Spain, France and UK. This service is one of the longest Block Train Load in Europe. Inaugurated in November 2009, the service called “Fresh Fruit and Veg from Spain” (FFVS), which also crosses the Eurotunnel, proved to be a success. It managed to reach the punctuality index in all its weekly journeys. Studies elaborated by Stibart Group, the company which developed FFVS, showed that this type of transport reduces CO2 emissions by around 8.625 tonnes, as well as the 13.7 million km/year made by road (in case refrigerated goods transport would have continued by road). At the same time, this service managed to reduce the travel time between the product collection point in Valencia and its destination point in Dagenham, London. This pleased refrigerated product distributors, because it extended product “shelf-life” (the period of time which products spend on the shelves in supermarkets until they expire). This service is monitored from a control centre located at Stobart headquarters. The temperature inside the refrigerating chamber can be set by simply pressing some buttons. These refrigerating chambers are equipped with sensors which provide precise information about the state of the products and the energy consumption.
“We believe that this service is a real success. For the first time in history, supermarkets and consumers alike benefit from a faster and more eco-friendly alternative to import fresh products from Spain. We hope that, in the near future, we will be able to implement this service on a daily frequency, which will quadruple the current environmental impact”, said Andrew Tinkler, CEO Stobart, at the inauguration. He hopes that the FFVS service will be extended to reach Widnes terminal in North England.
This service has already attracted many customers, thus increasing the average loading index to 84%, compared to the 70% average achieved by British operators.
The fact that perishable goods are carried across the Channel Tunnel was welcomed by the entire railway community, who promotes freight transport on pre-established routes only in case of high-speed passenger transport. The railway community has also encouraged other operators to follow the example set by Stobart-DB Schenker. Fret SNCF plans to elaborate similar projects. The company plans to launch cross-border perishable goods transport services on the TGV network. Other operators who handle perishable goods transport plan to expand their activities on other routes. Such an example would be Freight Europe or Norfolk Line, who bring refrigerated products from Italy in the UK and who combine several modes of transport and cooperate with several national and private operators: Fret SNCF, Colas Rail, Europorte 2 (Eurotunnel subsidiary, specialized in international freight transport) etc.
Tony Berkeley, President of the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), said that “these new services stand as proof that railway perishable transport can be competitive and reliable in case of long-distance transport, along routes that cross several countries”.
Perishable goods transport in Romania, only on paper
In Romania, railway perishable goods transport exists only on paper, according to the representatives of several private operators such as GFR or Servtrans, who own refrigerator wagons and who could ensure this type of transport, if it weren’t for the lack of customers. The main reason is the poor state of the infrastructure and the lack of demand for this type of transport.
CFR Marfă owns refrigerator wagons capable of carrying refrigerated goods, but the economic crisis has practically frozen all perishable goods services, which are now taking place at a reduced frequency rate, announced Liviu Răican, Operations-Traffic Director at CFR Marfă. He also said that future projects will be developed for this type of transport.
One such project concerns CFR Marfă’s involvement in the introduction of a perishable goods service (fruits and vegetables) from Greece, which transits Romania and stops in Russia. CFR Marfă and the Greek authorities are currently analysing the feasibility of this project. One of the obstacles that may stand in the way of attracting customers on this route would be CFR Marfă’s outdated rolling stock fleet, which requires significant upgrade. The national operator makes regular journeys for refrigerating goods which require a constant temperature, but which are not perishable (juice, mineral water, canned goods etc.).
Another Romanian operator of perishable goods transport which was severely affected by the economic crisis is the Romanian subsidiary of Austrian-Swiss group Intercontainer Intrfrigo, ICA România, which has reduced service frequency. A similar service takes place between Genk (Belgium) and ICA terminal in Oradea. According to Eugen Nancu, General Manager ICA România, transport is usually done with the help of platform wagons, loaded with refrigerator containers, and less with the help of specialized wagons, which have their own refrigerating system. He also mentioned the problems encountered by perishable goods transport operators or wagon owners, including equipment thefts, which affect the well development of this type of transport. Thieves usually steel the diesel fuel used by the refrigerating systems, which are less secure than traction systems, and they cause major damages because they steel the entire refrigerating mechanism.
The only developing market, Russia, has great plans for perishable goods transport
One of the markets that record a year-on-year increase in the field of perishable goods transport is Russia. The volume carried has significantly increase since 2005 (7.000 TEU), 2006 (10.000 TEU), 2007 (12.000 TEU) and 2008 (21.000 TEU). 96.6% of the volume carried in 2008 went on the domestic market, most of the time being unloaded in terminals in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The main category of goods carried is fresh fish of domestic origins.
The state-owned company that handles perishable goods transport is Refservice, mostly owned by RZD who, in 2009, sold 25% of its shares for almost EUR 30 Million. The success recorded on the Russian market is due to the fact that operators have at their disposal small-size refrigerator wagons, thus providing services for numerous small customers. In 2009, Refservice, together with Russian Container Yard (RCY), developed a new technology for perishable goods transport, which uses a new refrigerating system, made up of a diesel fuelled generator which activates the freon and a container which is compatible with the generator. The innovation is that the generator, which has its own fuel tank, can be easily installed on any type of compatible container and it can ensure refrigeration while the train is moving; the cooling system is no longer connected to the central refrigerating system. This new system is also equipped with sensors that automatically set the temperature and control the state of the transported goods, thus reducing refrigeration down-time and
energy consumption.
According to Nikolai Averkov, General Manager Refservice, by using this technology, RZD and Refservice hope to double the volume carried with little investment. “The cost of perishable goods transport in
refrigerator wagons and refrigerator containers is the same. However, containers allow more flexibility for reduced volumes, as well as the use of various loading procedures and increased manoeuvrability. Therefore, container transport is more reliable and, in the future, it will gradually replace refrigerator wagon transport, which will serve only large customers”.
At the end of 2009, RZD and RCY signed a contract for the acquisition of 60 generators. In November 2009, RZD’s two subsidiaries which handle perishable goods transport – Refservice and TransContainer (containerised transport), initiated talks with the parent company for the creation of a separate company that handles containerised perishable goods transport. RZD plans to build special terminals equipped with refrigerating chambers for the storage of perishable goods in key points.
2010 inaugurates the anniversary of 130 years since the first transport of perishable goods. In 1880, American industrialist Gustavus Swift inaugurated the first service – Swift Refrigerator Line – using a refrigerator wagon invented by Andrew Chase at Swift’s request. This service operated in Michigan, being the first perishable goods transport service in history.
by Alin Lupulescu
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