ICT tools for the improvement of intermodal transport at freight border crossing terminals

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ICT tools for the improvement of intermodal
transport at freight border crossing terminals
Prof. Antonio Musso

• SCHOOL of ENGINEERING
• DITS - TRANSPORTATION AREA

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List of Contents

• Border crossing problems related to the
  terminal operations and main parameters
  influencing their performances

• 2. Dedicated Solutions and Demonstration
  Activities

• Conclusions and Recommendations

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Border crossings overview of the problems
related to the terminal operations and main
parameters influencing their performances
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Border Crossings
The unproductive activities are concentrated
mainly at technical points, where
interconnectivity and interoperability hinder the
accessibility to production and consumption areas

• These nodes are identified at the border
  crossings where incompatible facilities can be
  recognized
• infrastructure and superstructure layout (gauge,
  5 different traction systems)
• rolling stock design (tunnel shapes calling for
  specific rolling stock in case of containers
  high cube and rolling road wagons)
• signalling (14 different systems in EU)
• heterogeneous regulations (administrative/documen
  tary procedures)

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INTERFACE Project
The concepts outlined in this document have been
developed within INTERFACE a project funded by
the European Commission (DG TREN) under the 5th
RTD Framework Programme

• Within INTERFACE Project the improvement of the
  interoperability of the transport networks at the
  border crossing terminals (inside the enlarged
  EU), in order to overcome the technical and
  operational barriers, has been achieved

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The Geographical Framework

• Northern Baltic region and its corridors with
  Russia
• North-East part of Austria and its corridors with
  the former CEEC
• Transalpine Arch
• Pyrenean Arch

• A literature review and a specific survey on 22
  different types of border crossing terminals
  together with their performance
  criteria/indicators has been carried out

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Terminals Survey
From the survey of terminals, a terminal typology
classification has been built and 2 terminals
families (considering its function within the
networks) have been identified

• the technical terminal family
• the techno-commercial terminal family

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The Terminals Families
the TECHNICAL TERMINAL
the TECHNO-COMMERCIAL TERMINAL

• It is limited by the network, responding to
  supply constraints in terms of resources
  (equipment and human) and traffic management with
  a view of attaining technical profitability (i.e.
  the provision of full direct trains)

• It is related to a market approach of the
  terminal which is closely linked to the
  intermodal transport users.
• terminal is both a technical point, integrated
  within the intermodal operator network, and a
  commercial interface to the intermodal final
  customers and users

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The Main Parameters

• Terminal classification has been the
  comprehensive basis for the qualification of
  parameters influencing the terminal performances

• The parameters have been studied considering
• factors nature (technical, operational, economic
  and commercial, administrative and documentary,
  etc.)
• factors positioning within the operating
  process the weight of specific factors at the
  different terminal interfaces (rail/road access
  and transhipment area)

• the parameters and the terminal types were
  matched one to the other (according the knowledge
  of project Partners with a more direct experience
  in freight intermodal management).

the outcome weighted parameters list providing a
reliable evaluation of specific parameters impact
on every terminal type
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The Weighted Parameters List
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Dedicated Solutions and Demonstration Activities
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Case Studies and Dedicated Solutions

• 3 representative case studies in 3 of the regions
  used for the survey were analyzed and
• the major key parameters influencing efficiency
  of terminal operations were selected

IN ORDER TO assess the potential impact of the
measure to be adopted in the demonstration phase,
on the quality of the intermodal services
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Key Parameters (KPs)
29 potential indicators were chosen general -
to be compared within the case studies specific
- related to the peculiarities of the specific
study case
Improvement plans (simple ideas) such as
dedicated solutions were envisaged for each case
study
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Demonstration Activities

• The solutions, theoretically assessed within the
  research phase were tested in a real environment,
  through 3 demonstrators in order to check the
  transferability of the results to other
  conditions and sites

• KPs were assessed by means of numerical
  indicators assuming, respectively the point of
  view of
• process owners, who are interested in the cost of
  service they are providing for (Process
  Indicators - PIs)
• customers, who are interested in the quality of
  service they are purchasing (Quality Indicators -
  QIs).

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Demonstration Sites and Activities
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
the main critical parameter and the focus of most
of the case studies
3. NOVARA (Italy Switzerland)

• BRECLAV HOHENAU
• (Austria Czech Republic)

2. PORT BOU (France Spain)
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BRECLAV Terminal (Austria Czech Rep)

• Information Systems as well as the Technical
  Inspections of the train at the border (brake
  test, train inspection) have been identified as
  the most relevant key factors

• Concerning the EDI at the border, the average
  time for data entry for 1 train is about 30-40
  minutes.
• A pre-condition to reduce waiting times for
  intermodal freight trains is to cut data entry
  times at the border through the acceptance of
  data of the neighbour-railway companies in
  confidence
• A further measure is the implementation of trust
  agreements concerning technical inspections
  and/on the transport of hazardous goods

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BRECLAV Terminal (Austria Czech Rep)

• MAIN DRAWBACKS
• The EDI (the UIC application Pre-advices of a
  freight train HERMES 30) was operated as follows
• CZ Railways used the wagon data of these
  pre-advices in a routine service and, since the
  application is used in the test mode, the data
  received had to be checked in the rail yard
• The ÖBB did not use pre-advice
• The used version of HERMES messages was different
  (30 of data transmitted had inconsistencies/failu
  res)
• The Terminal Operator and the Terminal Owners had
  no direct electronic connection to the Railway
  authorities so, EDI among these actors was rather
  complicated
• Manual check of the accuracy of transport
  documentations at borders was rather time
  consuming the commercial inspection in Breclav
  lasted about 70 mins.

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BRECLAV Terminal (Austria Czech Rep)

• 1st DEMONSTRATOR INTERMODAL MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
• It aims at showing the contribution of an
  enhanced EDI system to the improvement of the
  intermodal transport, through a better and more
  updated information supply on freight transport
  status and planning

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BRECLAV Terminal (Austria Czech Rep)
The dedicated concepts and the related outcomes
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BRECLAV Terminal (Austria Czech Rep)

• THE DEVELOPED AND TESTED MEASURES
• Module 1(ÖBB) - connection HERMES with Wagon
  Database
• - the integration of Wagon database into the
  ÖBB production system ARTIS
• the XML (Extended Mark-up Language) file
  management for data interchange
• Module 2 (ÖBB) - connection to Consignment Note
  systems
• - e-frachtbrief_at_ application for consignments
  that have their origin in Austrian forwarding
  stations
• - Grenzerfassung application for consignments
  that have their origin not in Austria, but are
  passing Austria
• Module 3 (CD) - Establishing of the application
  based on the HERMES 30 pre-advices development
  of an application to enable the transfer of data,
  captured from one railway system, into another
  one
• Module 4 (CD) - Interconnection to the ORFEUS
  (Open Railway Freight EDI Exchange System) based
  Consignment Notes system

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BRECLAV Terminal Results
Comparison between ex-post results and ex-ante
goals

• - ? ? of the pre-advices reliability up to 95
• - ? ? of stop-over times at the border of 20 min.
  for 7500 trains
• - a 25 ? ? of border waiting times through
  transmission of more detailed

- a 38 ? ? of the time due to commercial
inspections - a 79 ? ? of the intermodal trains
punctuality (due to the pre-advices at the border
station) - an ? ? of the productivity with a 36
? ? of the staff FTE - the provision of
operational/commercial data (generated,
collected, shared at the border) to the
intermodal transport and terminal operators
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PORT BOU Terminal (France Spain)

• MAIN DRAWBACKS
• The involved actors manage the information on
  transhipment planning in different ways/formats

• Additional information have to be
  controlled/collected manually once the train is
  in the Port Bou terminal
• The planning process, carried out manually, its
  based on staff expertise as well as the
  transhipment plan feasibility (checked by the
  staff and function of the ITUs variety)
• The instructions are transmitted orally to the
  gantry crane operator
• 3 final inspections of the transferred train are
  carried out by the RUs (RENFE, SNCF) and the
  Logistic Operators, due to lack of quality trust

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PORT BOU Terminal (France Spain)

• The 2nd DEMONSTRATOR LOGISTIC CONCEPTS
• The development and the implementation of the
  dedicated concepts, within the Port Bou terminal,
  was realised through 3 modules
• design and implementation of a decision support
  system for transhipment and loading planning
• integration of the ISs for transhipment and
  loading planning

• decision support system for terminal management
  (selection of the approach to develop the
  automatic generation of transhipment plans to
  get a standardized procedure, valuable for both
  supply actors and clients)

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PORT BOU Terminal (France Spain)
The dedicated concepts and their expected
outcomes
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PORT BOU Terminal (France Spain)
THE DEVELOPED AND TESTED MEASURES

• A new Platform Wagon DB has been integrated with
  the existent RENFE ISs, including relevant wagon
  data necessary for secure loading purposes
• Within the RENFE ISs, the Train Verifying System
  has been developed (TCIX sw) to represent/assign
  the ITUs position on a wagon and to ensure
  transhipment or loading plans compatible with
  technical and security rules
• A Treatment and Reception of Trains was carried
  out to collect relevant info at train arrival and
  to transfer them to a tablet PC (via GPRS)

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PORT BOU Terminal Results
Comparison between ex-post results and ex-ante
goals

• - the integration of productive information on
  the wagon

• the elaboration of computerized transhipment
  plans with automatic checking and alerts related
  to the loading errors
• a 33 ? ? of the time due to the transhipment
  planning and train control
• the polyvalence of the staff (? ? of the training
  to elaborate the transhipment plans from 3 to 1
  month)
• the increase of the productivity with a 27 ? ?
  of the staff FTE

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NOVARA CIM Terminal (Italy Switzerland)

• MAIN DRAWBACKS
• at the CIM the trucks peak period is in the late
  afternoon. Administrative time required for each
  ITU entry causes queues of waiting trucks

• TOs and RUs use different ISs which are connected
  only for commercial data exchange (technical data
  have to be fed in manually) the players utilise
  2 different wagons DBs (weight and length)
  determining lack of data standardisation

• the rail line CIM-Boschetto is a single
  non-electrified track allowing only 1 shunting
  movement at a time moreover, the gradient of the
  line calls for automatic brake coupling for all
  wagons
• when the wagons wait on the transhipment tracks
  for a long time brake system inflation may take
  up to 20 mins

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NOVARA CIM Terminal (Italy Switzerland)

• MAIN DRAWBACKS
• The critical section of the NovaraLuino line
  (Luino-Laveno) is shared by freight and passenger
  trains which, currently, absorbs the major line
  capacity, thus, most of the freight traffic rolls
  between 10 pm-5 am

• During the freight train peak periods, this 14.6
  km section provides a capacity of 5 trains/hour
  and, with almost no spare capacity, is difficult
  to set up new train-paths and guarantee timetable
  stability

• There is a high risk of additional delays at the
  Luino border due to the locomotives/drivers
  change. Unavailability of either locomotives and
  drivers may lead to major disturbances

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NOVARA CIM Terminal (Italy Switzerland)
3rd demo INTERACTION TERMINAL/NETWORK OPERATION

• Harmonization of the Information Systems
  reengineering of the ISs and creation of a unique
  wagon database
• to enhance train departure times reliability,
  reducing terminal delays and range variability

the dedicated solutions was developed through 2
measures

• Integrated Timetable Planning Asymmetrical
  Optimization and design of a Cyclic Timetable
  including the train paths and rescheduling
  decisions
• to reduce delays along the line, specially for
  Southbound trains, preserving circulation
  regularity and avoiding propagation of
  irregularities

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NOVARA CIM Terminal (Italy Switzerland)
The dedicated concepts and their expected
outcomes
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NOVARA CIM Terminal (Italy Switzerland)

• 1. Harmonization of the Information Systems
• SUB MEASURE A a 3rd CDB was designed to collect
  all wagons technical data and share them among
  all actors.

• SUB MEASURE B CEMAT operated on its IS logic
  architecture introducing 3 new functions
  pre-closing train, automatic fax transmission and
  data transmission in order to
• avoid manual insertion in the TRENITALIA
  Technical IS (SIR) of trains data stored in the
  CEMAT IS (GOAL)
• reduce activities without added value and also to
  avoid mistakes.

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NOVARA CIM Terminal(Italy Switzerland)
2. Integrated Timetable Planning

• the train priority is usually defined by a
  timetable, except in the case of unexpected
  events when priority is decided by station
  inspectors or dispatchers
• this is a problem in single-track lines, as the
  Luino-Novara, where at some day hours many
  long-distance freight trains have to share the
  line with regional passenger trains that
  generally have priority
• the introduction of new concepts of train
  management is crucial to prevent scheduling
  problems along the line

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NOVARA CIM Terminal(Italy Switzerland)
2. Integrated Timetable Planning

• Defined a dispatcher as an operator of a Rail
  company
• who is aware of the traffic situation on the line
• co-ordinates the actions of the local station
  managers in order to ensure line reliability
• the following sub-measures have been chosen
• introduction of a rail traffic management tool
  which gives priority to one specific direction in
  case of conflicts on the line (Asymmetrical
  Optimization) - short term scenario
• design of a cyclic timetable including
  alternative trains paths and re-scheduling
  decisions - medium term scenario

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NOVARA CIM Terminal(Italy Switzerland)
2. Integrated Timetable Planning

• 1. in a 1st phase the dispatcher simply
  co-ordinates station inspectors, without directly
  managing the stations interlocking systems

the dispatcher can reduce some delays (?1) by
setting up the Asymmetrical Optimisation and
creating synergies with different actions at
station level
2. The medium term approach foresees the
introduction of a Centralised Train Control (CTC)
to provide the dispatcher with remote control of
stations interlocking systems
A further delay reduction (?2) thanks to more
sophisticated tools such as ISs able to describe
the line situation, decision support systems and
a Planning tool (Cyclic Timetable)
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NOVARA Terminal/RAIL LINE Results
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Comparison between EX-POST RESULTS and EX-ANTE
GOALS

• a 33 ? ? of the duration of the train
  composition
• a 58 ?? of the work time rate of the process
• an ? ? of the staff productivity with a 13 ? ?
  of the staff FTE

2

• in case of huge circulation disruption, giving
  priority to South-North running trains, delay ? ?
  is up to 120 and the Southbound trains have a
  60 ? ?

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Conclusions and Recommendations
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Conclusions

• To improve the efficiency and the effectiveness
  of border crossing operations

• the suggested measures are addressed to specific
  solutions
• the optimisation of the intermodal procedures
  management
• the optimisation model for transhipment and
  loading planning
• the harmonisation of the ISs among the transport
  chain actors
• the planning of specific integrated timetables

• are characterised by the following common
  features
• reduction of the bottlenecks due to the rail
  border crossing operations
• redesign of the existing Information and
  Communication Systems
• promotion of the co-operation among the different
  players of the intermodal chain
• development of a continuous improvement process
  (long term)

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Recommendations

• The guidelines have been designed to suggest
  measures and actions
• to overcome the barriers for a seamless
  intermodal transport service at the rail border
  crossings
• to enhance the opportunities highlighted through
  the INTERFACE demonstrations by the
  implementation of new border intermodal operating
  systems
• to support policy decisions and to build a
  consensus between different actors of the
  transport chain

• Are presented in the form of a table for each
  issue reporting
• the barrier and the action necessary to overcome
  it
• the additional action for policy makers
• the expected results from such action

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The main factors to overcome the barriers have
been synthesized in 5 key parameters

• Functionality of EDI at Terminal level related
  to the efficiency of the EDI Systems among the
  actors involved in the terminal operations
• Functionality of EDI at Network level related to
  the efficiency of the EDI Systems among the
  actors involved in the intermodal transport chain

• Timetable Reliability related to the trains
  punctuality preservation and/or delays
  recovering, optimising the rail line capacity and
  the border crossing operations

• Effectiveness of Technical and Commercial
  Inspections related to the improvement of the
  reliability and accuracy of the train inspections

• Production of new intermodal services related to
  enhancement of the competitiveness of the rail
  freight transport, providing customers -
  oriented innovative services

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Recommendations
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Recommendations
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Recommendations
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Thank You for Your Kind Attention