If we really want to promote rail freight transport, we need innovative technical solutions, not just good intentions. One promising approach is modular freight car concepts.

These new concepts, such as DB Cargo's “modular” and “multifunctional” wagons, separate modular carrier wagons from multifunctional containers, enabling significantly more flexible, customer-specific, and potentially more efficient transport logistics on the railways. The result: reduced fleet complexity, demand-oriented intermediate storage, and new logistical scope.

But innovation also raises new questions: How do modular concepts change the requirements for infrastructure and depots? Where should containers ideally be stored to minimize costs and speed up transport?

In our successfully completed research project, we examined the requirements for depots and transshipment locations for modular and multifunctional freight cars and were able to demonstrate that:

• Local storage at shippers' premises is particularly efficient in many cases, both in terms of costs and availability.
• Transport relations play a decisive role in the selection of suitable storage locations, as not every depot is equally relevant.

When discussing the future of rail freight transport, modular concepts should be considered as the key to greater flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability. Special thanks go to our project partner DB Cargo for the good cooperation. You can find out more about the project and the results here.