EUROPE - DB Schenker Rail

EUROPE
Higher standards thanks to Xrail
Xrail makes international single-wagon transport more reliable and more transparent. A
good year after the formation of the international alliance the seven partners involved are
positive about the results achieved thus far: the range of services is satisfying customers.
OVER THE HILL:
An individual wagon
rolls onto its sorting
siding in Nuremberg.
22 | Railways
The European alliance for single-wagon transport,
Xrail, was launched in February 2010. A
year on, the initiators are sounding positive
about the results achieved to date: “Xrail is going
down well with the customers,” reports Sven Budde,
Head of the Xrail Project and Head of Network Management
at DB Schenker Rail, adding, “We are being
asked more and more often whether we can operate
specific services according to Xrail standards.”
This is no surprise as the system offers customers
tangible benefits. Xrail is a quality initiative which
makes single-wagon transport more competitive in
relation to road haulage. Seven leading European rail
freight operators have undertaken to ensure that on a
growing proportion of services they operate a level of
quality which can hold its own against road transport.
With DB Schenker Rail (Germany, Netherlands
and Denmark), SNCB Logistics
(Belgium), CD Cargo
(Czech Republic), CFL Cargo
(Luxembourg), Green Cargo
(Sweden and Norway), Rail
Cargo Austria (Austria and
Hungary) and SBB Cargo
549.4106°N 11.1023°E
Nuremberg, Germany
(Switzerland) as partners, the
Xrail network is responsible
for large parts of rail freight
transport in Western, Central
and Eastern Europe. There is a fixed timetable in place
for all international connections within the system.
For every journey from feeder track to feeder track,
customers receive a fixed arrival time – with the rail
operators involved also guaranteeing 90 per cent
punctuality. In the event of delays, customers are
informed of the new arrival time immediately and
automatically. And last but not least: the time that
elapses between the initial enquiry and the submission
of a quotation is greatly reduced. In standard
single-wagon transportation, the preparation of quotations
takes seven to nine working days but, according
to Budde, “With Xrail shipments we have now
reduced that period to five days, and we are seeking
to improve it to three days in the medium term.”
As a result, single-wagon transportation is becoming
more interesting to customers who have been
dependent on road transport to date for reasons of
reliability and transparency, for example from the
automotive, chemical and mining sectors. “With
Xrail, single-wagon transportation can now really
display its full potential: it is more eco-friendly and
usually cheaper,” explains Budde. “With the high
degree of planning flexibility that Xrail guarantees,
we are safeguarding and strengthening our market
position, for example on key transport flows such as
coal, iron and steel or paper shipments between Scandinavia
and the Ruhr region.”
Foto: XXX