Freight transportation in Germany faces the challenge of becoming more efficient and environmentally friendly on both road and rail. The solution? Combined road-rail freight transport (CT), which combines the strengths of both modes to provide a sustainable alternative to pure road freight transport. Although CT is often seen as an area of gradual change, recent years have shown that dynamic developments are possible.

To shape the future of rail, we presented two exciting projects at the 9th HOLM Innovation Marketplace of the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) in Frankfurt am Main on September 3, 2024.

More goods need to be transported via rail – but how? Combined road/rail freight transport (CT) combines the flexibility of road freight transport with the environmental friendliness of rail – a perfect combination for achieving our climate targets.

Germany can only cope with the constantly growing volume of goods in the long term with the help of combined road/rail freight transport (CT) – and this is becoming increasingly important. With this development, it is essential to identify potential and sustainable measures that can strengthen CT in Germany. Together with Yuerui Tang, Prof. Elbert presents 23 measures in the latest issue of “Internationales Verkehrswesen”. These include, for example, the use of digital automatic coupling or data-driven planning with artificial intelligence.

The seminar will explore challenges and potential solutions in maintaining robust intermodal transport chains amidst disruptions. Join SIG B3 for an insightful online session on the robustness of intermodal transport chains and operations amidst disruptions on 14 November 2024 at 4-5 p.m. CET.

Life is a constant exchange – as it is for the students of our “Intermodal Transport Services” course, who had the opportunity to get to know the House of Logistics and Mobility in Frankfurt am Main last Wednesday. The experts of tomorrow exchanged ideas with Jonathan Schröer, Head of Terminal Services at CargoBeamer, and gained insights into the intelligent and environmentally friendly solutions and technologies that CargoBeamer offers to strengthen combined transport in Germany and Europe, and how the company makes the transport of non-craneable semi-trailers possible.

The future of freight is on track: On 25 June 2024, we had the pleasure of hosting an insightful guest lecture as part of our course “Intermodal Transport Services”. We were happy to have Sebastian Ruckes, Manager of Business Development at TX Logistik AG and Executive Director of “shift2030”, share his invaluable insights on the practical transport chain in Combined Transport with our curious students.

A company's portfolio should be alive! It must be actively developed on an ongoing basis. On Wednesday, June 19, 2024, we welcomed Dr. Horst Kayser from Siemens to our course “Management of Value Added Networks”. We are very pleased that Dr. Kayser, as an alumnus of TU Darmstadt (Wi.-Ing. '87), gave our students an insight into portfolio management and the strategic and global orientation of Siemens. We would like to thank him for the exciting exchange and the informative presentation.

Let's celebrate innovation! We had the pleasure of attending the summer party of the innovation alliance between Deutsche Bahn and TU Darmstadt. On June 12, 2024, the participants met for a lively get-together and exchanged views on current projects and activities in various working groups. During the event, our team members Aylin Altun and Raphael Hackober were on site to provide insights into our current research projects.

Combined Transports with the handling of complete semi-trailers or containers are complex to organize. Two of our research projects at the Technical University of Darmstadt are investigating the potential of digitalization to make Combined Transport more attractive.