Scum that’s my opinion.
I think from today it may just do that, using the CargoBeamer system.
The future is road to rail according to the plan. The first commercial run of the Cargobeamer took place yesterday 9th November 2012.
We have always tried different ways of moving freight, in containers, swapbodies, lolo trailers and on rolling highways. It gets round the jigsaw of weight limits, bridge heights, drivers hours, parking and congestion.
The system has gained Marco Polo funding from the EU and beyond, the system looks like it could work with a little more work. I envisage a problem when the marshalling area becomes full, the need for a smaller operating area is voided as there will have to be a way of moving the trailers off the pads and parking them somewhere.
The start of CargoBeamer’s commercial operations in Europe has been marked by a successful test drive from Leipzig (Germany) to Calais (France), completing a series of tests proving that CargoBeamer fulfills all technical and operational requirements to run on the European rail network.
CargoBeamer is a European transport system consisting of special wagons and terminals with revolutionary cargo handling that allows all non-craneable semi-trailers to be shifted from road to rail.
“Freight traffic on European roads is forecasted to grow by 75 percent until 2025, threatening to take the continent’s roads infrastructure on the verge of traffic collapse,” said Hans-Juergen Weidemann, CEO of CargoBeamer. “CargoBeamer anticipates this development and has the potential to counter the situation by shifting cargo traffic efficiently and environmentally-friendly from road to rail.” Today, only 15 percent of the entire cargo transport on road can participate in combined transport due to technical constraints. CargoBeamer changes this profoundly as the technology allows transshipment of all semi-trailers without previous modifications for craning.
They will be replaced by the Turkish hauliers if Turkey one day joins the EU.It is not far away as you think in a truck.
Wheel Nut:
I think from today it may just do that, using the CargoBeamer system.The future is road to rail according to the plan. The first commercial run of the Cargobeamer took place yesterday 9th November 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ugx87dSmBg&feature=share&list=PL985B493B87C0730B
We have always tried different ways of moving freight, in containers, swapbodies, lolo trailers and on rolling highways. It gets round the jigsaw of weight limits, bridge heights, drivers hours, parking and congestion.
The system has gained Marco Polo funding from the EU and beyond, the system looks like it could work with a little more work. I envisage a problem when the marshalling area becomes full, the need for a smaller operating area is voided as there will have to be a way of moving the trailers off the pads and parking them somewhere.
The start of CargoBeamer’s commercial operations in Europe has been marked by a successful test drive from Leipzig (Germany) to Calais (France), completing a series of tests proving that CargoBeamer fulfills all technical and operational requirements to run on the European rail network.
CargoBeamer is a European transport system consisting of special wagons and terminals with revolutionary cargo handling that allows all non-craneable semi-trailers to be shifted from road to rail.
“Freight traffic on European roads is forecasted to grow by 75 percent until 2025, threatening to take the continent’s roads infrastructure on the verge of traffic collapse,” said Hans-Juergen Weidemann, CEO of CargoBeamer. “CargoBeamer anticipates this development and has the potential to counter the situation by shifting cargo traffic efficiently and environmentally-friendly from road to rail.” Today, only 15 percent of the entire cargo transport on road can participate in combined transport due to technical constraints. CargoBeamer changes this profoundly as the technology allows transshipment of all semi-trailers without previous modifications for craning.
It’s going have to move a hell of a lot of freight to make a major difference to road freight as only something like 8% of freight is moved by rail across Europe. And if it does can Europe’s, especially the UK’s railway cope? Also can the trailer get through the very low tunnels and bridges in the UK. Also what is the average distance of freight movements in the EU, I sure I’ve read that it’s surprisingly low maybe something like 100 miles.
muckles:
It’s going have to move a hell of a lot of freight to make a major difference to road freight as only something like 8% of freight is moved by rail across Europe. And if it does can Europe’s, especially the UK’s railway cope? Also can the trailer get through the very low tunnels and bridges in the UK. Also what is the average distance of freight movements in the EU, I sure I’ve read that it’s surprisingly low maybe something like 100 miles.
There is already a lot of freight moved from Belgium and Germany into Italy and Spain, using Swiss Rail, Hupac and DB Schenker. I don’t think this system would be used in UK as they missed the boat, (so to speak) when they built the Channel Tunnel.
If the system can actually unload and load a train in 15 minutes, that is one of the problems answered. In Manchester and Willesden, it could take 2 or 3 hours to get a box on while they were working a train.
toby1234abc:
They will be replaced by the Turkish hauliers if Turkey one day joins the EU.It is not far away as you think in a truck.
…Toby, the EU is not that far away in a (zb)ing rowing boat!!
o.p.: these practices of avoiding taxes are as old as humankind so it’s naive to expect they will die out at our time here. A Greek friend of mine reckons in ancient Greece merchant ship with foreign goods did not call at ports of big city states such as Athens but at small independent ports or islands nearby where the goods were loaded onto smaller ‘local’ ones for final delivery - all that to avoid import taxes. Not that I would agree with these practices, but there’s so little I can do about / against them…
As of Cargobeamer, they were meant to start between Germany and Latvia (or Lithuania?) 2-3yrs ago, I don’t think they did. Their problem is high upfront investment (terminal, waggons) and long return on it so wihtout involvement of state or EU it is not going anywhere.
Lohr, those who make car transportes, proposed a similar solution, centre craddle of railway waggon would swing around centre pivot on waggon’s chassis, truck would drive on at an angle to tracks, swing back, lock, go. That did not go anywhere either…
IMHo, one reason for lack of success of ‘intermodal solutions’ is their focus on one type of cargo/trade: trailers only, swap bodies only or containers only. Why don’t they offer transport of ALL types on one train between two terminals?
Oh yes, they can get subsidies on some, not others… Free market, EU style…
The poles will be doctor hooked when they join the euro. If the Greeks leave they will become the most competitive hauliers in Europe. The euro screwed the Spanish, may take a while but it will do the poles eventually as well.
jessicas dad:
Scum that’s my opinion.
care to elaborate?
Ex Haulier:
The poles will be doctor hooked when they join the euro. If the Greeks leave they will become the most competitive hauliers in Europe. The euro screwed the Spanish, may take a while but it will do the poles eventually as well.
I don’t know what do you mean by “doctor hooked” but we are not interested in Euro for now. We were interested some years back, but we weren’t happy with that we have to fullfill much stricter demands than Greece, Italy or other PIGS countries, so we decided to stay aside. And it turned to be a very good decission 
Now our goverment says we are not interested in joining Euro until its problems will be sorted (if possible).
muckles:
It’s going have to move a hell of a lot of freight to make a major difference to road freight as only something like 8% of freight is moved by rail across Europe. And if it does can Europe’s, especially the UK’s railway cope? Also can the trailer get through the very low tunnels and bridges in the UK. Also what is the average distance of freight movements in the EU, I sure I’ve read that it’s surprisingly low maybe something like 100 miles.
I think the UK is the only country in Europe that had substandard (by that I mean, smaller) dimensions of the railway cars… This might be a problem for you, indeed. That’s why you need to use low - rider container cars, but with trucks it could be impossible…
Other thing is, in the movie they say that it has to be reloaded at the border with Eastern Europe… Not really.
Currently the cars are just lifted up and the undercarriage is replaced, but more modern systems are now in use on some Polish-Ukrainian crossing and also on the border between France and Spain (as Spain and Portugal also have different gauge), where trains just need to slow down and drive throuigh special device. Here, similar system:
Also, there is a russian-standard line going well into Poland as far as to Katowice, currently some truck carrying trains use it on occasion, it could be included in a new system as well…
We took the dog along the beach today (back in UK for 2 months ) , when we came off to go back to the car was met by a Polish bloke with a carrier bag trying to sell me a TV decoder , I said don’t one and then he asked me for any loose change I had , when told to go away in small jerking movements and go back to his home country he said he couldn’t afford the fare as he didnt get any benefits from this country.
Yeah, this beggars are annoying. There is one guy who remember from my first visit to Glasgow in 2005. He ususally sits and begs either on hope street or on Royal Exchange Square.
He recognizes me as well, I know, as he never tries to approach me any more - propably because when he was asking for “spare change” I was informing him that I have no change to spare, and if he was asking if I can help him, I was telling him how to get to the nearest jobcentre…
And, from what I know, as I heard him talking with someone on the bus once, he does have lot of benefits in this country and he spends them on booze and holidays
And I cannot even tell him to go back to his own country, dammit 
Yet I have to support him through my taxes and he still asks me for more on the street…
I guess the above has as much relevance to Eastern European transport and outscoring your haulage business to Bulgaria as does have your example of beggar of propably Polish nationality
orys:
muckles:
It’s going have to move a hell of a lot of freight to make a major difference to road freight as only something like 8% of freight is moved by rail across Europe. And if it does can Europe’s, especially the UK’s railway cope? Also can the trailer get through the very low tunnels and bridges in the UK. Also what is the average distance of freight movements in the EU, I sure I’ve read that it’s surprisingly low maybe something like 100 miles.I think the UK is the only country in Europe that had substandard (by that I mean, smaller) dimensions of the railway cars… This might be a problem for you, indeed. That’s why you need to use low - rider container cars, but with trucks it could be impossible…
Firstly I don’t profess to be any sort of expert on the European or UK rail industry.
However I’m pretty sure that most of Europe higher tunnels and bridges than the UK, it’s pretty obvious because you see double deck carriages in many Countries, and I believe a lot of the modification of the rail infrastructure in Europe was necessary after the almost total destruction of it during the Second World War.
but if you read my post you’ll see I singled out the UK when it comes to the height of tunnels and bridges, although I believe they have modified certain routes to allow more freight.
My point is can Europe’s railways cope with the massive increase it would need to take a noticeable amount of freight off the road and rail freight seems to need subsidies to make it work? Afaik in the UK the network is already pretty much up to capacity and passenger traffic take priority over freight traffic, so freight trains sit and wait.
It seems that Europe is far keener on headline grabbing High Speed passenger trains than freight and although there are some high profile freight, it seems it has more to do with publicity than actual serious economics.
I am no expert either, but my high school was a railway technical school, so I know a bit
I think problem in Europe is smaller. Yes, certain routes are very busy with passenger traffic, but the network is much more flexible. Unlike passenger trains, freight trains do not need to go via the shortest route, they can go longer way, and if they won’t stop on the stations they still can be in their destination pretty fast. In UK for example, if you want to take train to Scotland, you have just two options - East Coast and West Coast…
And as for England, there are more routes of course, but the area is really heavy populated…
But I think in most of Europe it is different. Even if some areas are very heavy populated, like, say, Paris area or Ruhrgebeit, or Silesia region in Poland, and their rail lines are extensively used for passengers transport, the trailers could be delviered by trucks to some terminals outside these areas and put on trains there, while transit cargo trains can be diverted to go via more rural areas…
As for subsidies: from what I remember, when they were starting that truck trains from Katowice into deep russia, they were needed subsidies because the system was not used up to its capacities - there were just few trains per week. If there would be several trains per day, they should be able to make ends meet.
Sorry for using Polish example again, as I know some don’t like it, but it’s simply the most familiar case to me: in Poland passenger trains are heavy subsidied, while cargo companies make profit, and there are even several private owned copmanies that started after 1989 (mostly in connections with bigger industries, such like oil rafinery, coal mines or chemical plants) that offer cargo services on the free market and are fairly profitable. Some are already offering intermodal transport solutions, sorry, but website is in Polish and German only but you can see the map of their routes: ctl.pl/pl/spolki/ctl-logisti … termodalne
And if we remember that road tolls forr trucks are getting higher and higher, and diesel prices are not staying behind, the hauliers will be keen to pay more and more to have their trucks transported by rail.
Hi Radmutter,thank you for this Road-Video.Very intressant and importend.i life 2 Years
in Poland and know a little bit about. I think long Ways is good for Train Company.
But to distribute the Cargo and Semis is a lot of Work for all Driver.And this Work
is 24 h arround the Clock just in Time.
Your Sven