photo: Lotras/VTG and Lotras expand the offer of intermodal transport services in Italy: innovation and sustainability transport and handling of goods
Using the RoadRailLink (R2L) handling and transport technology, already in place on other European routes, VTG in cooperation with Lotras, have built the first experimental train that will travel from Brindisi to the intermodal freight terminal of Villa Selva (Forlì). The intermodal offer is set to grow rapidly, and further relations are already planned with two new routes from Lecce and -Coronata near Foggia, through collaboration with various road haulage companies.
“This is a big step forward. Now it is possible to use the cranes to lift even non-craneable semi-trailers, thus moving more transport on the train”, says Guido Gazzola, Head of the Italian Branch of VTG Rail Europe GmbH. “With R2L technology, we are actively moving transportation from road to rail. This new activity could move up to 15,000 trucks per year from roads to rails, per route, with significant reductions in CO2 emissions, with positive effects also on traffic, reducing congestion.
"A strategic operation added Armando de Girolamo, Sole Administrator of Lotras, because it strengthens the role of Puglia and the South in the logistics and national transport system, bringing the south closer to northern Europe; innovation and intermodality, moreover, with the direct partnership with road haulers testify to the will and the transversal contribution of the sector to sustainable transport methods that are attentive to the objectives of environmental protection and safety.
The innovative semi-trailer carrier solution for combined transport constitutes a counter-trend response to what happens in Italy as in the rest of Europe, where most of the goods are transported on various types of wheeled trailers, with a very small percentage, approximately 5%, suitable for intermodal transport. R2L handling and transport technology, on the other hand, provides an efficient way to move non-craneable semi-trailers of any type, so that even semi-trailers that were previously unsuitable for intermodal transport can be placed on the tracks, thus further strengthening modal shift. The R2L carrier, in fact, does not need ramps or other devices, so that the semitrailers can be easily lifted for the benefit of the various terminal operations, with very fast loading times, a few minutes per semitrailer, and with absolute safety and precision thanks to the support. of laser and digital instruments for the calculation of measurements and distances.
After the test phase, the service will be activated by autumn with 6 weekly departures from Brindisi to Villa Selva and 6 in the North-South direction.
The initiative was illustrated in recent weeks to the Deputy Minister of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility, Teresa Bellanova, who showed concrete interest and support for this innovative business partnership, in the context of constant attention to the logistics and transport sector. goods and, in particular, for the needs of the road transport sector of southern Puglia.
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