Maritime Logistics

Customer driven rail solutions

ERS Railways is the Hupac Group branch for maritime inland transportation based in Germany. Founded in 1994, ERS has 30 years of expertise in intermodal services for maritime containers.

 

Intermodal network

Our high-performance network for maritime container transport connects the seaports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Rotterdam with the most important economic centres in Germany. We move your containers – from the seaport by rail and onwards by road to the final destination. Fast, efficiently and eco-friendly.

 

With 30 years of experience in the field of intermodal services, we serve the terminals in Nuremberg, Munich, Augsburg, Regensburg, Ulm, Kornwestheim, Frankfurt and Mannheim as well as the border areas to the Czech Republic, Austria, France and Switzerland via combined transport.

 

Continental network of Hupac

In addition, ERS Railways offers the possibility of using the continental network of Hupac Intermodal for maritime volumes, allowing our customers to benefit from our full-service container handling on these routes as well. Furthermore, Hupac provides a pan-European network of container terminals that we can use.

 

Full-service container transport

Our Customer Service teams look after the entire range of container transport services. We take care of it – reliably and flexibly.

  • Container delivery: organisation of pre-carriage and on-carriage by truck
  • SOLAS services
  • Preparation of customs documents
  • Empty container positioning
  • Transport of dangerous goods by rail and road
  • Customised special services

 

An exclusive access to rail resources

Our strategic alignment with boxXpress as a private rail company and a jointly operated train network expands the spectrum for intermodal seaport-hinterland transport. As a shareholder of boxXpress, we get the best out of the market – and make optimal use of the available resources.

  • 37 Vectron locomotives for high sustainability value
  • 1000 container wagons Sggns(s) 80' with ideal loading weight
  • Professional train running control
  • Active CO2e management by ERS Railways

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Combined transport needs alternative routes via France

9.9.2024 - During the full closure of the Rhine Valley railway during the holiday month of August, the diesel shuttle on the route on the left bank of the Rhine performed well. The initiative shows that in order to ensure the stability and reliability of combined transport on the north-south axis in the long term, it is necessary to expand the railway lines on the left bank of the Rhine in France.

Successful diesel shuttle on the left bank of the Rhine
Around 20 freight trains per day and direction through Alsace – this is the number of train journeys that could be offered during the full closure of the Rhine Valley railway in August 2024. This was made possible by setting up a shuttle service with diesel locomotives on the non-electrified Wörth-Lauterbourg-Strasbourg-Offenburg line. “A ground-breaking concept, which overcame numerous technical and administrative hurdles thanks to a committed Franco-German-Swiss cooperation,” says Hupac CEO Michail Stahlhut, commenting on the project. “Thanks to this initiative, we were able to prevent a collapse in industrial supply, as we experienced with the accident in Rastatt in 2017.”

 

For Hupac's combined transport operations, the result of the three-week closure was positive. The holiday-related low volume of traffic was largely handled via the 4-metre corridor via Alsace and via the Gäubahn with a reduced profile. The weak point of the diversion via France proved to be the low capacity at the transfer points, which led to congestion in the event of traffic disruptions. In addition, the diversion route reached its capacity limit towards the end of the month as volumes increased.

 

Overall, however, the importance of the diversion via France cannot be overestimated. The project initiators - SBB Cargo International, Captrain France, DB InfraGo and SNCF Reseau - invested almost three years in the conception and preparation of the project. Together they were able to find market-oriented solutions and prevent a shift back to road. “Now we have to build on this pioneering achievement and include the French access routes to the NEAT in the Swiss modal shift policy. The upgrading of the NEAT feeder line Belgium-Metz-Strasbourg-Basel to the 4-metre corridor is a top priority”, says Hans-Jörg Bertschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hupac.

 

Further modal shift in Alpine transit only possible with a 4-metre corridor on the left bank of the Rhine
The modal shift of transalpine traffic to rail has been in a standstill for several years. “The limited capacity of the German rail network is responsible for this stagnation in Switzerland's modal shift policy. This is the bottleneck of the current NEAT system,” says Bertschi. The planned corridor renovations in Germany, involving the closure of main lines for several months, will aggravate the situation until after 2030.

 

A further shift of Alpine transit traffic through Switzerland to the railways therefore presupposes that the Belgium-Metz-Strasbourg-Basel axis on the left bank of the Rhine is upgraded to the 4-metre corridor. Traffic from Belgium and the southern Netherlands, which currently travels through Germany, could then take the 110 km shorter route through France. “In view of the decades-long backlog in the development of the rail axis on the right bank of the Rhine, increasing traffic via France is the only option to prevent stagnation or even a reversal in the modal shift policy,” stresses Bertschi. It is in the interest of Swiss transport policy to initiate the necessary expansion of the corresponding tunnel profiles through the Vosges mountains with targeted investment subsidies in France, as has been successfully achieved in Italy.

 

A motion to this effect by the National Council's Transport Committee was passed by the National Council in June 2024 and will be discussed by the Council of States in September.

 

Traffic through France planned from 2025
The positive experience with the diversion traffic through Alsace is motivating Hupac to strategically expand transport on the routes on the left bank of the Rhine. “From 2025 we are planning container transit trains with a suitable profile via France, even if this is not yet possible with 4-metre semi-trailers and involves additional costs,” announces Michail Stahlhut. Hupac is thus creating an alternative to the tense situation in Germany, where corridor renovations with complete closures for months are putting a considerable strain on capacities. “We are delighted that SBB Cargo International is proactively supporting efforts to eliminate bottlenecks in the NEAT system by founding a subsidiary in France,” says Hans-Jörg Bertschi. The development of new services on the left bank of the Rhine through France is also an important signal to SNCF Réseau with regard to the necessary extensions to the tunnel profile.

 

Traffic development in the first half of the year
After the negative development of the previous year, traffic volumes on the Hupac Group's network have stabilised. A slight increase of 0.4% was recorded in transalpine traffic through Switzerland in the first six months of the year. The traffic losses due to the closure of Rastatt were moderate and did not have a significant impact on the result. The Hupac Group transported a total of 494,000 road consignments in the first half of the year, which corresponds to a decline of 2.8% compared to the previous year. Maritime hinterland traffic in Germany and transalpine traffic via Austria and France developed negatively. “The transport results are in line with our expectations, " says Stahlhut. “We assume that we will be able to maintain a stable level in the coming months and even grow in some areas, for example in the Benelux market.”

Combined transport needs alternative routes via France

9.9.2024 - During the full closure of the Rhine Valley railway during the holiday month of August, the diesel shuttle on the route on the left bank of the Rhine performed well. The initiative shows that in order to ensure the stability and reliability of combined transport on the north-south axis in the long term, it is necessary to expand the railway lines on the left bank of the Rhine in France.

Successful diesel shuttle on the left bank of the Rhine
Around 20 freight trains per day and direction through Alsace – this is the number of train journeys that could be offered during the full closure of the Rhine Valley railway in August 2024. This was made possible by setting up a shuttle service with diesel locomotives on the non-electrified Wörth-Lauterbourg-Strasbourg-Offenburg line. “A ground-breaking concept, which overcame numerous technical and administrative hurdles thanks to a committed Franco-German-Swiss cooperation,” says Hupac CEO Michail Stahlhut, commenting on the project. “Thanks to this initiative, we were able to prevent a collapse in industrial supply, as we experienced with the accident in Rastatt in 2017.”

 

For Hupac's combined transport operations, the result of the three-week closure was positive. The holiday-related low volume of traffic was largely handled via the 4-metre corridor via Alsace and via the Gäubahn with a reduced profile. The weak point of the diversion via France proved to be the low capacity at the transfer points, which led to congestion in the event of traffic disruptions. In addition, the diversion route reached its capacity limit towards the end of the month as volumes increased.

 

Overall, however, the importance of the diversion via France cannot be overestimated. The project initiators - SBB Cargo International, Captrain France, DB InfraGo and SNCF Reseau - invested almost three years in the conception and preparation of the project. Together they were able to find market-oriented solutions and prevent a shift back to road. “Now we have to build on this pioneering achievement and include the French access routes to the NEAT in the Swiss modal shift policy. The upgrading of the NEAT feeder line Belgium-Metz-Strasbourg-Basel to the 4-metre corridor is a top priority”, says Hans-Jörg Bertschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hupac.

 

Further modal shift in Alpine transit only possible with a 4-metre corridor on the left bank of the Rhine
The modal shift of transalpine traffic to rail has been in a standstill for several years. “The limited capacity of the German rail network is responsible for this stagnation in Switzerland's modal shift policy. This is the bottleneck of the current NEAT system,” says Bertschi. The planned corridor renovations in Germany, involving the closure of main lines for several months, will aggravate the situation until after 2030.

 

A further shift of Alpine transit traffic through Switzerland to the railways therefore presupposes that the Belgium-Metz-Strasbourg-Basel axis on the left bank of the Rhine is upgraded to the 4-metre corridor. Traffic from Belgium and the southern Netherlands, which currently travels through Germany, could then take the 110 km shorter route through France. “In view of the decades-long backlog in the development of the rail axis on the right bank of the Rhine, increasing traffic via France is the only option to prevent stagnation or even a reversal in the modal shift policy,” stresses Bertschi. It is in the interest of Swiss transport policy to initiate the necessary expansion of the corresponding tunnel profiles through the Vosges mountains with targeted investment subsidies in France, as has been successfully achieved in Italy.

 

A motion to this effect by the National Council's Transport Committee was passed by the National Council in June 2024 and will be discussed by the Council of States in September.

 

Traffic through France planned from 2025
The positive experience with the diversion traffic through Alsace is motivating Hupac to strategically expand transport on the routes on the left bank of the Rhine. “From 2025 we are planning container transit trains with a suitable profile via France, even if this is not yet possible with 4-metre semi-trailers and involves additional costs,” announces Michail Stahlhut. Hupac is thus creating an alternative to the tense situation in Germany, where corridor renovations with complete closures for months are putting a considerable strain on capacities. “We are delighted that SBB Cargo International is proactively supporting efforts to eliminate bottlenecks in the NEAT system by founding a subsidiary in France,” says Hans-Jörg Bertschi. The development of new services on the left bank of the Rhine through France is also an important signal to SNCF Réseau with regard to the necessary extensions to the tunnel profile.

 

Traffic development in the first half of the year
After the negative development of the previous year, traffic volumes on the Hupac Group's network have stabilised. A slight increase of 0.4% was recorded in transalpine traffic through Switzerland in the first six months of the year. The traffic losses due to the closure of Rastatt were moderate and did not have a significant impact on the result. The Hupac Group transported a total of 494,000 road consignments in the first half of the year, which corresponds to a decline of 2.8% compared to the previous year. Maritime hinterland traffic in Germany and transalpine traffic via Austria and France developed negatively. “The transport results are in line with our expectations, " says Stahlhut. “We assume that we will be able to maintain a stable level in the coming months and even grow in some areas, for example in the Benelux market.”

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