There is a vast number of IT systems and electronically supported solutions in modern logistics processes, and they are becoming increasingly common in rail transport as well. They are used in train control and safety systems, modern traction rolling stock, diagnostics of the technical condition of rolling stock and infrastructure, organization and preparation of transport processes, or supporting tasks such as the work of transport dispatchers, creating train timetables, or tracking freight shipments. In transport, as a link in logistics systems, the flow of information is just as important as the transport process itself.
For the customer, especially in bulk transport, it is one of the fundamental factors determining the organization of work at loading and unloading points. Due to the scope of the issue, the authors will present only a few exemplary solutions. In its efforts to achieve a high level of economic performance and meet competition between economic blocs or supply chains, the European Union must aim to eliminate various barriers. For example, rail transport operating in the EU faces enormous difficulties in fully overcoming technical and technological differences due to the scale of the necessary undertakings. Undoubtedly, the human factor (different professional training, language barriers) is also significant. At the interface of railways with different track gauges, an important issue is the rapid transshipment of goods or the adjustment of wheelset gauges to new line parameters. Among traditional forms, intermodal transport is the most effective solution for the rapid transshipment of goods in the so-called general cargo segment compared to the costs incurred. A loading unit, such as a container, swap body, or the still rarely used semi-trailer, ensures the movement of cargo from one means of transport to another without the need for direct transshipment. Table 1 compares traditional solutions for moving cargo at the interface of two track gauges with new technologies.
In the new global economy, ensuring the interoperability of logistics systems, and thus transport systems (as one of the basic links in the logistics chain), in formal-legal, operational, technical-technological, or organizational aspects is the basis for the free movement of goods, services, and information. In practice, this means planning, organizing, controlling, and implementing freight transport activities in the supply chain and managing such activities. Supply chain management should therefore be perceived as the active management of activities (including transport) performed within the supply chain and the relationships between its individual links, in order to maximize value for the customer and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Transport, as an integral part of the logistics supply chain, plays a significant role and has great importance in this. When considering the importance of interoperability, it is impossible to ignore this issue in the perspective of the flow of goods between Poland and countries neighboring the EU, for example, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, in the context of Europe-Asia transport. There are different train control systems (signaling equipment), loading gauges, permissible axle loads, or different track gauges. The problem is serious because at the eastern border, goods must be transshipped or bogies in wagons must be exchanged, or a system of automatic axle gauge adjustment must be used. All these barriers make rail freight transport uncompetitive compared to other modes of transport. The quality of transport decreases because commercial speed is significantly reduced. During transshipment, the shipment is susceptible to damage.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2010.