In Rotterdam, nineteen rail freight parties signed a partnership agreement for accelerated further growth of digitisation and data sharing in the sector. In the next two years, the foundation will be laid, under the leadership of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, according to the company's release.
The Growth Programme, Rail Connected, has arisen from the Rail Freight Transport Measures Package to promote rail freight transport. The programme is financed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Port of Rotterdam Authority. The Port of Rotterdam Authority coordinates the programme, which is designed together with the market parties.
A major part of Rail Connected is the further development of the current Notification Container Hinterland Barge service by Portbase, the provider of the Port Community System. As a result, the exchange of information between the chain parties is digitised further. ‘This will allow the possibility of reporting trains to the terminal, for instance, and information will be available about the composition of the train,’ Iwan van der Wolf, Managing Director of Portbase, explains.
Besides deep-sea container terminals RWG and Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam, the following parties from the rail freight sector participate: Contargo, CTT Rotterdam, Danser, DB Cargo Nederland, DistriRail, European Gateway Services, Haeger & Schmidt Logistics, KombiRail Europe, LTE, Neska Intermodal, Optimodal, Portshuttle, Rail Force One, Raillogix, Rotterdam Rail Feeding, RTB Cargo, and Trimodal Europe.