November 2016

User-friendly access to information about last-mile infrastructure for rail freight

Final report

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

Directorate C - Land Unit C.3 - Single European Rail Area

Contact: MOVE C3 SECRETARIAT

E-mail: MOVE-C3-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu

European Commission B-1049 Brussels

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

Contract MOVE/B2/827-2013 2016

User-friendly access to information about last-mile

infrastructure for rail freight

Final report

LEGAL NOTICE

This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Project Partners:

HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Hannover (DE) Lead Partner

UIC - Union Internationale Des Chemins De Fer, Paris (FR)

UIRR - Union Internationale des socits de transport combin Rail-Route

(BE, subcontractor)

Triona AB (SE, subcontractor)

IT Kreativa (MK, subcontractor)

Authors:

Niklas Galonske, HaCon

Dr. Johannes Hildebrandt, HaCon

Arianna Zanardelli, HaCon

Lars Deiterding, HaCon

Airy Magnien, UIC

Patrick Mantell, UIC

Mattias Hennigson, Triona

Lars-Olov Fllbom, Triona

Eric Feyen, UIRR

The information and views set out in this report are those of the authors and do not

necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not

guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any

person acting on the Commissions behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be

made of the information contained therein.

1

Table of contents

Table of figures ...................................................................................................... 3

Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 6

1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 13

1.1 Background and objectives of the study ....................................................... 13

1.2 Definition of last-mile infrastructure for rail freight ........................................ 13

1.3 Structure and concept of the study .............................................................. 16

1.4 Project team ............................................................................................. 19

2 Identification and analysis of user needs ...................................................... 20

2.1 Objectives / Methodology ........................................................................... 20

2.2 Types of last-mile infrastructure and their occurrence in different countries .................................................................................................. 21

2.2.1 Types of last-mile infrastructure ...................................................... 21

2.2.2 Occurrence of last-mile infrastructure types in Europe ........................ 25

2.2.3 Conclusions ................................................................................... 28

2.3 Stakeholders of last-mile infrastructure information ....................................... 30

2.4 Requirements on information content and system features ............................. 32

2.4.1 Methodology ................................................................................. 32

2.4.2 Results from stakeholder workshops ................................................ 43

2.4.3 Results from online questionnaire .................................................... 45

2.4.4 Consolidated results ....................................................................... 46

3 Identification and analysis of potential data sources including other information portals........................................................................................ 51

3.1 Objectives / Methodology ........................................................................... 51

3.2 Overview on existing information sources and their contents .......................... 52

3.2.1 Other information portals ................................................................ 52

3.2.2 European registers on railway infrastructure ...................................... 61

3.2.3 Network statements ....................................................................... 62

3.2.4 Direct data provision by rail facility operators .................................... 63

3.3 Exploitation of existing information sources availability of data and access conditions ....................................................................................... 64

3.3.1 General legal aspects of data usage from other sources ...................... 64

3.3.2 Exploitation of other portals ............................................................ 69

3.4 Selection of pilot regions ............................................................................ 72

4 Pilot web-based information portal ............................................................... 73

4.1 Objectives / Methodology ........................................................................... 73

4.2 General portal data concept ........................................................................ 74

4.2.1 Assessment from the users perspective .......................................... 75

4.2.2 Assessment from the portal operators perspective ........................... 76

4.2.3 Conclusions ................................................................................... 77

4.3 Pilot portal structure and specifications ........................................................ 78

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2

4.4 Portal system description ............................................................................ 81

4.4.1 Overall architecture ........................................................................ 81

4.4.2 Development environment and components ...................................... 82

4.4.3 System parts ................................................................................. 82

4.5 Documentation of pilot operation ................................................................. 89

4.5.1 Portal operation during pilot phase ................................................... 89

4.5.2 Evaluation of data in pilot portal ...................................................... 91

4.6 Conclusions for a permanent portal .............................................................. 95

4.6.1 Need for further technical portal development ................................... 95

4.6.2 Conclusions regarding data gathering ............................................... 96

5 Recommendations for a permanent web-based information portal (business model)........................................................................................... 98

5.1 General purpose/design ............................................................................. 98

5.2 Management structure ............................................................................... 99

5.2.1 Roles and tasks of the entities involved ............................................ 99

5.2.2 Requirement profiles .................................................................... 100

5.2.3 (Pre) identified organisations ......................................................... 102

5.3 Financing structure .................................................................................. 104

5.3.1 Specification of tasks and subsequent costs .................................... 104

5.3.2 Specification of revenues .............................................................. 107

5.4 Steps towards permanent portal operation (roadmap) .................................. 110

6 Summary and conclusions ........................................................................... 112

7 Annexes ...................................................................................................... 121

3

Table of figures

Figure 1: Components of Last-mile infrastructure ................................................. 14

Figure 2: Example of last-mile rail infrastructure: Intermodal terminal (Neuss Trimodal, DE) ............................................................................. 15

Figure 3: Example of last-mile rail infrastructure: Private siding (Steel plant Differdange, LU) .................................................................................... 15

Figure 4: Stakeholder involvement ........