CargoPV

The aim of CargoPV is to design measures that make it possible to use the dense network of public passenger transport, in particular high-ranking rail transport, for the transport of small goods.

Client: bmvit, Mobility of the Future, 7th call for tenders

Duration: March 2017 to February 2018 (12 months)

Project partners: FH-Oberösterreich Forschungs-GesmbH; TU-Wien, Institute for Transport Sciences; ÖBB-Personenverkehrs AG; Promotion & Co

LOI partners: Swiss Federal Railways; Raaberbahn; WESTbahn Management GmbH; swissconnect; veoloce; Walk space; Newrail – Newcastle University; DLR – German Aerospace Center

Project description: Due to increasing online trade and the ever closer networking of the business world, the transport needs for small goods are increasing in both the private and business sectors. Timely transport play an important role in the B2B sector, often also over longer distances. Examples of this include urgent spare-parts deliveries, contract originals, samples of goods or other express shipments. As there are currently no standardised high-frequency CEP services, urgent shipments with single trips on the road are expensive and polluting. There is also a demand in the private sector for the possibility of timely but nevertheless inexpensive dispatch over longer distances, for example for forwarding forgotten holiday gear or travel and identification documents.

Austria and large parts of Europe have a dense public transport network. The rail system in particular offers regular traffic and high speeds over longer distances, which could be used synergistically for the transport of (time-sensitive) shipments. In comparison to earlier years, when almost every train had its own luggage/parcel trolleys, there is nowadays no suitable (spatial and technical) infrastructure on board most trains that allows the secure transport of small goods. The aim of the CargoPV project was to analyse whether and under what conditions the dense public transport network, in particular the high-ranking rail transport, can be used for the transport of small goods. In order to compensate for the lack of infrastructure in the vehicles, three possible transport scenarios were examined in more detail:

1) Variable use of generally accessible rooms in railway stations and multi-purpose compartments in the coaches, for example with dockable transport boxes.

2) Travellers as possible “parcel carriers” in the sense of “crowd logistics”.

3) A combination of the two scenarios to develop flexible transport chains.

Further possibilities arising in the project were also considered in the conception. The CargoPV project was an exploratory project aimed at finding out whether there is sufficient demand for such systems and how they must be constructed so that they are accepted by future users and function reliably. The result and the added value of the CargoPV project were clear statements as to whether the innovative small-goods transport system can be implemented using existing sustainable mobility within the framework of existing public- passenger transport.

Contact: DI Dr. Bernhard Rüger