Extracting Enhanced Value from Intermodal Rail Freight

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Extracting Enhanced Value from Intermodal Rail
Freight

• Dr Allan Woodburn
• Transport Studies Group
• University of Westminster

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Key elements of presentation

• Intermodal market trends
• Market segmentation
• Service performance
• Supply chain considerations

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Intermodal rail freight volumes (1998/99-2006/07)
Source ORR (2007)
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Intermodal growth rates

• Growth in intermodal volumes
• 1998/99 - 2006/07 29
• 2002/03 - 2006/07 33
• 2002/03-2006/07 annual growth rate 7.5
• 2006/07 Q2 2007/08 Q2 growth 17.0
• Road only 1.25 annual growth rate since 2002

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Sectors of the intermodal market

• Deep-sea containers
• Domestic intermodal
• Channel Tunnel

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Key intermodal corridors

• Southampton/Felixstowe inland terminals (North
  West, Midlands, Yorkshire) - containers
• Anglo-Scottish (Midlands central Scotland)
  containers/swap bodies

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On-rail competition

• Freightliner
• EWS
• First GB Railfreight
• DRS
• Fastline

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Examples of intermodal customers

• Shipping lines
• Maersk
• Kuehne Nagel
• MSC
• Retailers
• Tesco
• ASDA
• Superdrug
• Argos
• IKEA

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Future developments

• Assumption in policy planning documents of
  ongoing intermodal growth
• Further gauge enhancement
• Development of Strategic Freight Network
• Implementation of Planning Reform Bill easier
  provision of new terminals?

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Reasons to consider using intermodal services

• Potential economic benefits
• Potential performance benefits
• Corporate Social Responsibility agenda
• Future-proofing transport options

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Performance issues

• Dedicated intermodal shuttles
• Timetabled service good punctuality
• High carrying capacity 60-72 TEU
• High speed operation 75mph max.
• Fast terminal-to-terminal journey times
• New reliable and low-emission locos
• Lower labour requirements
• Increasingly customer focused

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Shipping line experience

• Rail to and from the UK's major ports is proving
  more reliable than road. Dedicated KN rail
  services from Southampton and Felixstowe are
  recording 95 reliability levels, compared with
  'low-mid 80' for comparable road haulage.
• Peter Ulber, Chief Exec. Kuehne Nagel 2005

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Supply chain considerations (1)

• Rail is not road
• It is generally less flexible
• Its network is less extensive
• Its access and operations are more regulated
• So rails use in the supply chain needs to be
  evaluated carefully
• Spare capacity on existing services
• Potential for new services and routes

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Mean TEU capacity utilisation per train, by port
and direction of flow (2007 survey, University
of Westminster)
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Supply chain considerations (2)

• Rail works best for
• Regular base-load volumes
• Filling up spare capacity on existing trains
• To perform best, consider rail at supply chain
  planning stage
• Rail can often compete with road, and can offer
  greater environmental benefit
• Offers an alternative to road for the future
  will road continue to be as cheap and flexible?

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Contact details

• Dr Allan Woodburn
• Transport Studies Group
• University of Westminster
• Email a.g.woodburn_at_westminster.ac.uk
• Tel [phone] x3437