Pilot sites Germany

Multiple Pilot sites across on Rhine-Alpine in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy

The Rhine-Alpine Core Network Corridor links the North Sea port of Rotterdam and the Mediterranean port of Genoa. Along the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, over 1 billion tonnes of freight are transported annually, resulting in a corridor GDP of more than 2.700 billion Euros (data from 2010). With 13% of EU’s population, the Corridor regions generate 19% of the EU’s GDP. Today more than 1 Billion tons of freight is transported along the corridor, of which approx. 37% is international transport crossing the borders of the corridor countries. Today, the transport sector causes 11 tons of CO2 emission per year in the Corridor. With CCP, already at project end in 2019 0.06 Mio. tons of CO2 can be avoided. 5 years later 0,4 Mio. tons, 10 years later 1 Mio. tons per year. Rhine-Alpine is the major European corridor for all transport modes but also confronted with important characteristic challenges, such as congestion and delays or noise and pollution.

Focus of the Rhine-Alpine pilot is to develop and test a collaborative corridor concept grounded on the enhanced availability and use of data among logistics companies and administrations along the Rhine-Alpine corridor, by means of:

  • Optimised transport and logistics processes in a much better and predictable way
  • Simplified and enhance processes through avoidance of mistakes and errors
  • Scaled up processes through harmonised collaboration structures among corridor stakeholders

Actions and opportunities

The Rhine-Alpine corridor has several major nodes of international relevance: Antwerp, Rotterdam and Genoa as major seaport for intercontinental maritime transport; Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich and Milan as major airport for air freight; Duisburg and Mannheim as main hubs for inland navigation and Milan, Mannheim, Cologne and Duisburg as major terminal for intermodal rail transport. Corridor activities will take place in three actions:

  • Digital freight capacity management: intermodal freight scenarios (including airfreight).
  • Digital corridor information hub: City access data will be surveyed and integrated into the data hub. Federated platforms scenarios will be tested and demonstrated using the different data sets.
  • Synchromodal freight optimisation: enhanced data availability in combination with predictive algorithms and real time services will optimise hinterland operations.
  • Hinterland Logistics Manager: starts its role when the container has been discharged at the destination port.
  • Real-time Road Optimisation Modules: hauliers and truck operators are subject to frequent changes implement real-time scheduling algorithms capable of meeting their needs in the synchro-modal landscape.
  • Real-time Rail Optimisation Modules: rail operators face complex planning requirements in terms of rules for loading trains, taking into account weight, wagon constraints, length constraints (which vary depending on route) and other factors.
  • Air freight Safety & Security Management: the current security framework for the air transport of goods is not satisfactory as confirmed by the study carried out by the Directorate General for Internal Policies (The Security Of Air Cargo From Third Countries – Ip/B/Tran/Fwc/2010-006/Lot2/C1/Sc1- Pe 474.546) of the EU in 2012. The Rhine Alpine Pilot Site will be developed via the federation of several IT systems, in coherency with the AEOLIX platform.

Use cases: E-manifest digital exchange with railway nodes (i.e., inland terminals, port communities, etc.), Customs documents and e-manifest digital exchange with Customs Agency and Guardia di Finanza, Train composition list, consignment note, e-manifest digital management, Train schedules ETA / ATA information sharing among directly involved stakeholders, Operational train information availability in real time, Digital planning / intermodal appointment, Reduction of CO2 & NOx emission, Multimodal route planning, Track & trace vehicle/shipment, Dangerous goods/eCall EGNOS/Galileo, TM2.0 for multimodality, B2A, A2B services like customs.

Partners involved:
Germany:EGTC with its members Uniontrasporti, Port of Antwerp, Region Rhine-Neckar, Region Liguria, Region Piedmont, Region Lombardy, PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG, T-Systems,Nagel Group, Port of Karlsruhe, TX Logistik.
the Netherlands: TU Eindhoven, Jan de Rjik Logistics.
Italy: LINKS Foundation.
Switzerland: RappTrans AG

TEN-T corridor: Rhine-Alpine Corridor