BRAVO - Brenner Rail Freight Action Strategy Aimed at Achieving a Sustainable Increase of Intermodal Transport Volume by Enhancing Quality, Efficiency, and System Technologies
Overview
Background & policy context:
The Brenner Corridor is one of the most loaded international transit corridors, where - on a length of only 448 km between Munich and Verona - three countries and thus railway infrastructures and the Alps (inclination Brenner north ramp 26 ‰) have to be bridged.
In order to ensure a further increase of the international rail freight transport, both conventional and intermodal rail, the Brenner Action Plan was adopted in December 2002.
The identified research and demonstration activities were transferred into the BRAVO Project:
- BRAVO set out to lay the foundations for achieving a significant and sustainable increase in intermodal volume on the Brenner corridor, and is designed as a blueprint applicable to other European corridors;
- BRAVO involved key players active in rail freight and particular combined transport services on the Corridor and has established working groups with all stakeholders.
- The corridor management is performed by an open and flexible platform model while maintaining and improving the business relations between partners.
Objectives:
The research activities of the BRAVO project were composed of the following scientific and technological objectives:
- Development of a coherent corridor management scheme enabling open access and train path allocation
- Blueprint for an interoperable rail traction scheme involving multi-current and radio-controlled locomotives
- Development of an EDP-supported quality management system
- Development of an advanced customer information system generating estimated-time-of-availability information
- Scheme on extended & innovative intermodal services
- Prototype of an innovative intermodal technology to capture conventional semi-trailers for unaccompanied intermodal transport
The BRAVO project also included six demonstration activities validating the research results:
- Radio-controlled pushing locomotive
- Interoperable through-rail traction scheme
- Quality management system (QMS)
- Pilot of 'estimated-time-of-availability' system
- Full-scale demonstration of an innovative pocket wagon technology
- New concept for unaccompanied CT of conventional semi-trailers.
Methodology:
The work under the project was structured in Research Activities (RA) as follows:
RA1 'Corridor Management System'development of the viable requirements and the basic components of a sustainable and open Corridor Management System (CMS). This RA will be both initiator and integrator for all other RTD to be performed during the project.
RA2 'Train Path Allocation' - dealt with the train path availability and allocation process, which will be analysed in detail in order to enhance the timetables of freight trains on the corridor.
RA3 'Rail Traction Scheme' - aimed at enhancing the interoperability in rail production which is considered as a prerequisite to improve the performance and the efficiency of rail traction services.
RA4 'Quality Management System' - aimed to develop and implement a coherent quality management system (QMS) which will measure the quality, develop key performance indicators and quality agreements and design appropriate supporting software and information tools.
RA5 'Customer Information System' - aimed to achieve an expert system enabling railways and intermodal operators to deliver 'estimated time of availability' information to their customers.
Based on RA2 and RA5 results, the RA6 'Intermodal Service' implemented advanced intermodal transport schemes with innovative timetables, pricing schemes and the optimal utilisation of the Gateway concept.
RA7 'Concept for New Market Segment' - addressed the important semi-trailer market, the conventional road-only semi-trailer with no lifting devices and examines technological solutions of how they could be conveyed in unaccompanied intermodal transport.
The horizontal activities such as dissemination, evaluation and transferability were summarised and enumerated in the RA8 'Dissemination-Evaluation-Monitoring-Transferability'.
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