INTERMODAL BERLIN SUPPORTS HELROM TRAILER WAGON WITH €15 MILLION

THE market launch of the Helrom trailer wagon is being supported as part of the German federal programme “Future Rail Freight Transport” by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport with €15 million.

Road traffic is responsible for 20% of all CO2 emissions. Truck transport involving freight traffic constitutes a significant portion of this. About 74% of road freight traffic is handled by truck trailers, which impose a considerable burden on the environment and overload the road network. But to date, only two per cent of truck trailers are transported by rail.

The reasons for this are technological and economic barriers. Almost all of the trailers used in Europe are non-craneable and previously could only be transported on a train with great inconvenience.

Considerable investments in central loading terminals with long construction times would be needed. The technology of the Helrom trailer wagon now offers the option for the first time of overcoming these barri- ers – a decisive precondition for realising the transport transition planned by the German federal government in goods transport to the extent required.

The Helrom trailer wagon is currently the only market-ready system facilitating the horizontal loading of truck trailers without a loading terminal. An asphalted surface next to the track is enough. The Helrom trailer wagon opens up at the side and the trailer is shifted onto the wagon.

As a result, the loading process can occur everywhere in a few minutes where a suitable area is available next to the rails. Setting up a new loading hub is possible without major construction projects within a very short period.

The elimination of expensive terminals allows industry and commerce to load truck trailers exactly there on the rails where it makes economic and logistical sense.

The Helrom Trailer Rail has been in great demand since being deployed between Dusseldorf and Vienna in 2020 and has passed the daily practice test very successfully. Helrom GmbH operates the Trailer Rail transport completely independently with its own trains, train drivers and personnel.

Up to the end of 2022, more than 680 Trailer Rail trains have already travelled this route. As a result, at least 16,000 truck trailers of numerous forwarders and loading agents were taken off the roads and moved onto the rail.

This corresponds to a saving of over 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Proven potential

The federal German programme “Future Rail Freight Transport” has set itself the goal of supporting the market launch of technological innovations, which have the proven potential of “boosting the economic efficiency, flexibility or logistical capacity of goods rail transport in Germany”. The support from the BMDV makes it possible for Helrom GmbH to continue the growth path it has taken to a comprehensive market launch with great vigour.

Roman Noack, CEO of Helrom GmbH, emphasised the importance of this sponsorship: “The sponsorship of about €15 million is a great honour for us. It is a tremendous success for the transport transition in Germany and for our goal of net zero transport. We have successfully proven that a significant reduction in CO2 emissions is realisable in freight transport in just a few years – flexibly, comprehensively and without major infrastructure investments.

"Our solution is economically feasible and very easy to implement. As a result, we not only offer big corporations a real alternative to road transport, we open use of the railways for the first time to all small and medium-sized companies," he said.