Section outline

  • Develop a smart specialized logistics cluster for the chemical industry in the Port of Antwerp in order to shift transport volumes from road to rail freight. Launching a rail transport solution for ‘less than wagon load’. New added value rail freight services for the chemical industry.

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    • Logistics Nodes

      Within LTWL an automated wagon loading system is being developed (AWLS).  This AWLS is designed and engineered as an automated wagon loading system (AWLS to load and unload pallets on wagons. Within the project, there will be a full technical design including a bill of material and execution plan. Also, first demonstrations of the AWLS will still be performed within the duration of the project.

      As such this is the first step to Generation 3 and Generation 4 but does not yet qualify as such as it is not a fully automated system (mechanical transhipment).

      The implementation of such AWLS should attract road transport (via shunting) to the hub (Main Gate Antwerp) where transhipment could be performed in an automated manner thus facilitating a modal shift to rail

      Description: Hub Service Offering. By attracting volume to the hub, new added value rail freight services for the chemical industry could be offered.  Current rail freight solutions do not offer this.  Consolidation in the hub could allow for:

      • Cross docking services for pallets in a rail connected warehouse
      • Specialised parking, repair and picking services for chemical wagons
      • Advanced cleaning & repair services for chemical wagons & tank trucks
      • Improved rail connections by combining conventional and intermodal volumes

      LTWL offers the first step up to Generation 2 since “less than truck load” volumes are bundled in the logistical hub and transported by rail freight.

    • Access & Adoption

      LTWL allows “less than truck load” volumes to be bundled in the logistical hub and transported by rail freight.  The smallest loading unit actually in rail freight is a single-wagon-load or a container put on an intermodal train.  LTWL will allow for a competitive and green solution for transport of single pallets through Europe in realising a modal shift to low-emission rail freight whereas such volumes have currently almost exclusively travelled over the road.

      Description: Sectorial, Regional, Seamless Vertical Integration. The Automated Wagon Loading System will demonstrate how these single pallets or less than truckloads of various shippers can be consolidated into full wagon loads, thus successfully demonstrating within the chemical cluster of the Port of Antwerp a successful modal shift through automation. (Generation 1).