Study „Comparative evaluation of transhipment technologies for intermodal transport and their cost”

Europäische Kommission, DG Move | 2021

Intermodal transport helps to achieve European and German climate targets by shifting freight transport from road to the environmentally friendly modes of rail, waterway or short sea shipping. This requires efficient and competitive transhipment facilities. In addition to those that have been tried and tested for decades, new technologies have emerged over the years to compete for the favor of users. It is not just a matter of competing with each other, but of shifting additional new traffic off the road with sophisticated systems.

But which intermodal transhipment technology is actually the best for my transports?

This question was investigated by a team from PwC and KombiConsult on behalf of the European Commission as part of this study. Sixteen handling technologies established on the market were examined for various loading units and transport chains, so that a total of 39 combinations were presented for transport distances of 600 and 1,000 km respectively.

The comparison was based on model transport chains. The underlying basic assumptions were defined with the European Commission. The technical and financial input parameters of the technologies considered were recorded in close consultation with the respective providers and users. Comparability was also increased because no financial support for construction, procurement and operation was taken into account.