Focus areas

Group objectives

  • Market-leading positions on specific major European transport corridors
  • Resilient, competitive and predictable intermodal offerings to a growing customer base
  • Ensuring efficient and competitive rail traction capacity with a balanced portfolio of strategic partners
  • Digital transformation and automation in planning and operations along the intermodal chain, including customers, railway undertakings and third party terminals
  • R&D: continuous development of innovations in wagon technology and terminals
  • Increasing the productivity of intermodal and terminal operations

Market development

  • Focus on the intermodal transport segments of transalpine, long haul (over 600 km in Europe) and maritime transport
  • 30-50% market share on the corridors served
  • Focus on pipeline development with 5-10 and more roundtrips per week
  • Capacity utilisation of trains above 80%
  • Priority on the use of own terminals
  • Strengthening the main transport corridors by investing in terminals

Customers

  • Quality, reliability, stability, cost leadership and competitiveness are the key drivers
  • Automate the contract-to-cash process
  • Standardise digital services and set up a self-service platform for customers
  • ‘Estimated pick-up time’ information for 100% of shipments, with 95% reliability
  • Expand customer base; service for major customers
 

Partners

  • Integrate the planning cycle with strategic partners

  • Establish strong partnerships with multiple rail operators
  • Standardise and automate the purchase-to-payment process with partners
  • Strengthen the digitalisation of operational processes (timetables, disruptions, pick-up times, etc.)
 

Employees

  • Develop young talents into leadership positions
  • Increase the diversity of the workforce, particularly in leadership and management positions
  • Reduce staff turnover in the Group
  • HR leadership development program for 2nd/3rd level managers

Contact

Building resilience, driving change: the Intermodal Forum 2025

On 16 May 2025, more than 250 guests from across Europe gathered in Lugano for the Hupac Intermodal Forum – an event dedicated to exploring the future of combined transport in times of disruption and change.


Under the theme "Resilience & Digital Transformation", industry leaders and logistics experts engaged in high-level discussions on how to strengthen Europe's intermodal system – both physically and digitally. Two keynote sessions and panel debates explored the pressing challenges facing the sector: infrastructure bottlenecks, digital integration, and how to reverse the trend of declining rail freight volumes.
In his welcome speech, Hupac Chairman Hans-Jörg Bertschi made a strong call for political action. “We need a reliable and resilient rail infrastructure across Europe,” he said. His appeal focused on five key measures:

  • Coordinated rail construction planning with diversion capacity and no full closures
  • Swiss funding for the upgrade of the Vosges tunnels as part of a new 4-meter left-bank corridor
  • Support for hybrid locomotive operations on the Wörth–Strasbourg route
  • Continuation of Swiss operating subsidies for combined transport beyond 2030
  • Active Swiss leadership in the North Sea–Rhine–Mediterranean corridor

These proposals aim to restore the competitiveness of intermodal transport and secure the success of Switzerland’s modal shift policy.


On the industry side, Hupac is responding with concrete actions. CEO Michail Stahlhut presented the company’s new “Pipeline Concept”, which focuses on high-frequency, corridor-based transport services. Combined with a bunch of resilience measures and targeted digitalisation, this approach promises more robust, flexible, and productive intermodal operations.


The Forum concluded with a clear message: resilience is not just a response to disruption – it’s the foundation for the future of intermodal transport.

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