DB Cargo wants to become a “digital freight railway”
In the 2016 business year, Deutsche Bahn’s cargo division DB Cargo had to acquiesce a declining market share of 3 percent below the previous year. The decline in the transport performance from around 98 to 95 billion tkm is partly due to uncertainties due to the Brexit vote and a slump in the coal and steel market in the United Kingdom.
DB Cargo, with a traditionally large market share in the mining industry, is particularly affected by this, as Dr. Jürgen Wilder, CEO of DB Cargo AG, pointed out during a press conference at the transport logistics fair in Munich. While DB Cargo is targeting a slight stabilisation for the year 2017, the company plans to grow again in 2018 and aims to become a “digital freight railway”. Wilder is expecting stronger growth in intermodal business.
DB Cargo is responding to the development of the markets towards containerisation and digitisation with the following three new products: DBlogistics-solution China, for container transports between China and Europe; the DBantwerp-rhine-shuttle ensures short transit times and high flexibility; and the DBscrap-solution offering fully digitised feed control.
Also the Container Terminal Enns (CTE) operated by the partners DB AG and M. Kaindl KG, recorded its first successful business year in 2016. With around 210,000 handlings, more than 300,000 TEU in total were handled at the Austrian terminal near Linz. Since April 2017, they offer also a rail link from Enns to Piraeus, Greece. “This service enhances our offer to South-East Europe significantly”, says Michael Heinemann, Managing Director CTE.
The digitisation of the CTE workflows will make them more efficient and environmentally-friendly. In the course of the FASTLANE pilot project, paperless truck and rail handling will be implemented at Container Terminal Enns by the end of May 2017. As to “Digitrans”, CTE is a project partner for the automation of operating sequences at the terminal. Together with further partners the automated operation of devices in the terminal is being developed and tested.