RailRunner Braunschweig – Bratislava departs from 31 July 2017
The of the RailRunner connection between Braunschweig and Bratislava v.v., initially planned for 18 April, had to be postponed shortly before start of traffic because of the lack of mega trailers. As of 31 July 2017, this block train service operates on a daily basis and is carried out with pocket wagons and conventional craneable mega trailers, swap bodies, containers.
The traction is provided by CD Cargo a.s., which is used for the German route EGP (Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam mbH). In this first phase, data on capacity, utilization, traction energy demand, handling performance and other relevant factors are recorded and documented to a great extent.
Phase two is expected to begin 2019 following the approval of the bimodal RailRunner technology, in which, in the same traffic connection, the conventional transport containers experience a transfer through the RailRunner-specific equipment. The weight-intensive use of pocket wagons and the need for heavy handling equipment such as reach stackers or portal cranes will be eliminated. Instead of 36 semitrailers, 42 semitrailers can be transported under the same conditions (train length and gross weight).
“We have now hired craneable mega-trailers ourselves and thus support interested companies in the use of our transport offer. This also reduces the risk for our customers, when changing to the combined transport sector,” says Gerhard Oswald, Managing Director of RailRunner Europe GmbH. The trains depart from Monday to Friday, respectively, the terminals in Bratislava and Braunschweig at around 7 pm and arrive at the destination terminal next day around noon.
RailRunner N.A., Inc., the American parent company, founded RailRunner Europe GmbH based in Hamburg in 2015. The goal is the introduction of the unique RailRunner technology in Europe, where trailers can also be loaded onto innovative bogies away from conventional terminals. The vehicles required after approval and testing are to be produced and assembled in Europe in series and the required components are also mainly to be produced in Europe.