Ireland’s rail infrastructure is being renewed. Concrete sleepers, which are imported from Germany, are needed on a large scale for the track superstructure. Until March 2024, the iCargo Solutions division of Haeger & Schmidt Logistics (HSL) will organise the transport of 65,000 sleepers, sustainably by coastal trading vessel.
“As HSL, we are providing the entire logistics chain for this project from a single source, partly with our own assets. We are handling the transport sections by truck and coaster ourselves. The ships are provided by our joint venture HSW Logistics, a known specialist for European short sea transports,” emphasizes Markus Wirz, Project Manager of the iCargo Solutions Division.
The logistics concept includes transporting the sleepers by truck from the manufacturing plant in Neuss to the defined transshipment point directly at the quay in the Port of Antwerp. More than 10,000 sleepers can be stored there until the volume for the planned sea transport is reached. In Short Sea Transport, the main leg of the journey goes through the Channel to the Irish port of Foynes in County Limerick, where Irish Rail calls off the components as needed.
Reliable transport time
Experienced Project Manager, Wirz, accompanied the first of eight ship loadings on site in Antwerp. He was on board the H&S Honesty when the captain, Igor Filchakov, precisely loaded the first shipment of 7,840 sleepers onto his 2,500 t ship. The captain assured Wirz: “Our transport time – under optimal weather conditions – is three days and four hours”. In Wirz’s view, it is precisely this exact advance planning that speaks in favor of this sustainable mode of transport: “The journey time and thus also the costs are much easier to calculate than with road transport ” since truck ferry connections, traffic jams and shortages of skilled workers can quickly lead to delays.
In the current project, time is of the essence for Irish Rail. Its goal is to complete as many construction sites as possible by the time winter comes around. To do so, it counts on a reliable logistics chain of imports, because Irish national manufacturing capacities are limited to 80,000 sleepers per year. The remaining demand is imported, mainly from Germany, which is known for its high quality standards. During production, the sleepers are adapted to the Irish track width of 1,600 mm.
short sea transportation in the group of companies. Image source: HSL
856 trucks VS 8 shiploads
In addition to the reliability of the coasters, the customer was convinced by the sustainable transport concept. Wirz calculated the alternative solutions: “It was 856 truck transports versus 8 shiploads for the transport of the 65,000 sleepers. Due to the truck weight restrictions, a maximum of 76 sleepers each 2.60 x 0.3 x 0.4 m (including rail fastening system) could be loaded onto a truck.”
The numbers were clearly in favor of the logistics model with the use of HSW coasters. Seven of the eight shiploads will be handled by the H&S Honesty with a deadweight tonnage of 2,500 t until March 2024. Wirz only makes an exception for the second shipload: “Here 10,840 sleepers are to be provided in one go. That’s why we access the MS Wilson Leer from the Wilson fleet, which has a higher capacity of 3,500 t.” Wirz expects demand for logistics solutions to increase in light of the necessary and planned rail infrastructure measures in Europe, especially in the context of rail modernization.
The iCargo Solutions division, which was only founded at the beginning of the year, sees itself well positioned for follow-up projects. Stefan Hütten, HSL Chief Development Officer, explains: “This case study exemplifies the strength and focus of our division. We implement holistic and sustainable logistics solutions from a single source for our customers with the inclusion of our growing network.”
Infobox
The island of Ireland has a public rail network of around 2,300 kilometers, operated by Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann), the state-owned railway company of Ireland. Translink (Northern Ireland Railways) operates 357 km of the rail network in Northern Ireland. Rail transport in Ireland is operated on a 1,600 mm broad gauge. The majority of the rail network is single track with a maximum permitted speed on the rail network of 160 km/h on certain lines and 145 km/h on parts of the Northern Ireland network. For the first time, the Republic and Northern Ireland have jointly drawn up a €35 billion project to modernize the rail network on both sides of the border in the summer of 2023.