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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Transportation growth despite Rastatt shutdown

Chiasso, 1.2.2018     During the past year, Swiss intermodal transport operator Hupac carried approximately 763,000 road consignments by rail, representing an increase of 3.5% or 36,000 shipments compared to the previous year. The seven-week blockade of the Rhine valley route near Rastatt resulted in the loss of over 30,000 road consignments


Transport development    

The development of transports during the past year was impacted by a number of external factors. While an increase of 8.3% compared to 2016 was achieved in the first six months, transportation was inhibited by substantial construction sites during the second half of the year, most notably the six-month closure of the Luino route between Bellinzona and Gallarate. However, the effects of the seven-week complete shutdown of the Rhine valley route due to a construction accident near Rastatt were considerably more severe. Of Hupac’s 300 trains normally operating on this route every week, less than a third could be rerouted. By providing additional trains between Basel and Italy, and by bridging the accident site with waterway transports on the Rhine and customer-organised truck shuttles, approximately 50% of the transports could be accommodated.

 

Once the Rhine valley route was reopened in early October, the situation normalised quickly. Overall, Hupac achieved a 3.5% increase in transports in 2017. The Rastatt effect is noticeable not only in the statistics of transalpine transports through Switzerland, but also, in part, in non-transalpine transports, comprising the Switzerland import-export traffic via the Benelux-Switzerland routes. Transalpine transports via France also increased (+13.0%), while transalpine transports via Austria declined slightly (-2.2%).

 

Outlook for 2018  

For the current year Hupac expects the active demand to continue. A variety of projects are in the pipeline to ensure reliable and safe transportation, including the terminal projects in Milan Smistamento, Piacenza and Brescia. These are currently in the implementation phase and will provide new transhipment capacities when the 4-meter corridor opens up in 2020. New rail concepts are in development, such as the diversification of the routings for the purpose of risk mitigation, as well as backup solutions for a more flexible handling of the growing disruptive factors impacting operations.

With respect to product development, the new connections Hannover D Novara and Zeebrugge CobelFret D Novara for the market segment of 4-meter trailers should be mentioned as well as the daily shuttle between Singen and Cremona. “With our partner Neska Intermodal we are developing connections between the terminal Köln Nord and Italy. For the opening of the markets in Iran, Caucasus and Central Asia, we rely on the close cooperation with partners“, according to Hupac’s managing director Beni Kunz. As of February 2018, the south-east European transport axis is reinforced by a twice-weekly train Rotterdam/Duisburg D Istanbul (Halkali).

 

 

Traffic development

Number of road consignments

2017

2016

in %

Transalpine via CH

468,329

450,862

3.9

Transalpine via A

36,878

37,690

-2.2

Transalpine via F

3,686

3,263

13.0

Non-transalpine

254,208

245,496

3.5

Totale

763,101

737,311

3.5

Transportation growth despite Rastatt shutdown

Chiasso, 1.2.2018     During the past year, Swiss intermodal transport operator Hupac carried approximately 763,000 road consignments by rail, representing an increase of 3.5% or 36,000 shipments compared to the previous year. The seven-week blockade of the Rhine valley route near Rastatt resulted in the loss of over 30,000 road consignments


Transport development    

The development of transports during the past year was impacted by a number of external factors. While an increase of 8.3% compared to 2016 was achieved in the first six months, transportation was inhibited by substantial construction sites during the second half of the year, most notably the six-month closure of the Luino route between Bellinzona and Gallarate. However, the effects of the seven-week complete shutdown of the Rhine valley route due to a construction accident near Rastatt were considerably more severe. Of Hupac’s 300 trains normally operating on this route every week, less than a third could be rerouted. By providing additional trains between Basel and Italy, and by bridging the accident site with waterway transports on the Rhine and customer-organised truck shuttles, approximately 50% of the transports could be accommodated.

 

Once the Rhine valley route was reopened in early October, the situation normalised quickly. Overall, Hupac achieved a 3.5% increase in transports in 2017. The Rastatt effect is noticeable not only in the statistics of transalpine transports through Switzerland, but also, in part, in non-transalpine transports, comprising the Switzerland import-export traffic via the Benelux-Switzerland routes. Transalpine transports via France also increased (+13.0%), while transalpine transports via Austria declined slightly (-2.2%).

 

Outlook for 2018  

For the current year Hupac expects the active demand to continue. A variety of projects are in the pipeline to ensure reliable and safe transportation, including the terminal projects in Milan Smistamento, Piacenza and Brescia. These are currently in the implementation phase and will provide new transhipment capacities when the 4-meter corridor opens up in 2020. New rail concepts are in development, such as the diversification of the routings for the purpose of risk mitigation, as well as backup solutions for a more flexible handling of the growing disruptive factors impacting operations.

With respect to product development, the new connections Hannover D Novara and Zeebrugge CobelFret D Novara for the market segment of 4-meter trailers should be mentioned as well as the daily shuttle between Singen and Cremona. “With our partner Neska Intermodal we are developing connections between the terminal Köln Nord and Italy. For the opening of the markets in Iran, Caucasus and Central Asia, we rely on the close cooperation with partners“, according to Hupac’s managing director Beni Kunz. As of February 2018, the south-east European transport axis is reinforced by a twice-weekly train Rotterdam/Duisburg D Istanbul (Halkali).

 

 

Traffic development

Number of road consignments

2017

2016

in %

Transalpine via CH

468,329

450,862

3.9

Transalpine via A

36,878

37,690

-2.2

Transalpine via F

3,686

3,263

13.0

Non-transalpine

254,208

245,496

3.5

Totale

763,101

737,311

3.5

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