development of small-scale intermodal freight transportation in a ...

thesis, p. 16). With overnight rail haulage, road distribution takes place in the early morning
and loaded ITUs are picked up in the late afternoon and evening.
A leading principle of European railways is to operate passenger trains during the day and
freight trains at night. Within reasonable distances, intermodal rail haulage is thus an overnight
business and the wagons stay available for loading at terminals during the day. The
prioritised traffic design (see section 4.2.1) is direct connection, but secondary flows are
handled within the normal wagonload system with its intermediate marshalling operations.
If rail haulage can not be arranged overnight, the intermodal transport normally takes an
additional 24 hours into account. The UIRR – which organises the dominating intermodal
transport companies – reported an average transport distance (terminal to terminal) of 660
kilometres in domestic traffic and 760 kilometres in international traffic 27 . For 1994, ICF –
traditionally active in international business – reports an average distance of 834 kilometres
for seaport traffic and 1192 kilometres for continental traffi. Once again, the average distances
rose in 1994 – by 4.8% and 3.8% respectively (ICF, 1995, p. 17). This is obviously
alarming, although ICF underlines that the increases emphasise the competitiveness over
longer distances rather than market shares being lost to lorries.
Intermodal transport is often referred to as being more successful in the USA than in
Europe, but it should be kept in mind that this is not only to be attributed to the efficiency
and private ownership of the American railroads. Double-stack trains 28 of Union Pacific
Railroad Company in the USA have the capacity of 280 pieces of 40-foot containers
(HILL, interview, 1993) compared to about 40 in Europe, but the trains in the USA are
generally pulled by more than one engine and at a considerably gentler pace. Moreover, the
geographic and demographic conditions favour American railroads more than the European
railways. The American services are very successful over long distances, but the problems
with competing over shorter distances are perhaps worse than in Europe. The shortest competitive
distance for intermodal services is often stated as 500 miles (800 kilometres) in the
USA compared to 500 kilometres in Europe 29 . The American intermodal industry, however,
is now fighting to re-enter the “below 500 mile market” (GELLMAN, 1994).
From the road transport company’s point of view, a ferry crossing is normally regarded as a
part of the railway service. For certain transport relations, however, the ferry crossing is
better performed without rail wagons, usually referred to as broken traffic where semi-
27 The figures are notably equal and actually converging. The reasons are the increasing use of long-distance
domestic transport in Italy and short-distance – yet international – rolling highway services (UIRR, 1997, p. 9).
28 The very generous loading profile in the USA facilitates that containers can be stacked two high on rail wagons.
29 The shortest distance over which intermodal transportation is competitive depends on a truly wide range of
factors, e.g. the demanded transport volumes and transport quality, road and rail infrastructure, general operation
principles and transshipment costs. A firm distance can thus only be calculated in a particular case, but the
given figures are the most mentioned ones.
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