Since November 2016, Cool Rail has been shipping citrus fruits and vegetables in reefer trains from the Spanish city of Valencia to North West Europe on a weekly basis. With this new train connection, retailers and logistics service providers have already reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 70% per truck shipment avoided.
For a good part of the year, Spain is a key fruit and vegetable supplier for supermarkets in North West Europe. Trucks travel this route daily, loaded with oranges, lemons, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers or lettuce, depending on the season. Consultancy Bureau Mercator Novus estimated that approximately 30,000 lorry movements are needed every year.
New rail link
Several years ago, logistics service provider Euro Pool System, service provider Bakker Barendrecht (Albert Heijn) and the Rotterdam Port Authority started Cool Rail, a rail link between Spain and North West Europe. Smeding and Plus, the Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt Group and the German chain Edeka also joined in.
Every week, 12 containers full of fruit and vegetables are transported in two trains connecting Valencia, Spain, with Cologne, Germany. The cargo is then loaded onto trucks and transported to distribution centres. Since November 2017, Cool Rail trains reach Rotterdam with 40 containers per train. The goal is to eventually have the train riding five times a week. On the way back to Spain, the trains are loaded with packaging from Euro Pool.
Less CO2
With this new supply line to Rotterdam, the initiative's promoters expect to further reduce CO2 emissions. The train to Cologne has been cutting CO2 emissions by 70%, and when heading to Rotterdam, CO2 emissions are reduced by 80 to 90%. Another advantage is that prices could be reduced. Potentially, the train is 30% cheaper than road transport.
The transport with Cool Rail trains doesn't currently manage to reduce shipping times. This is due to a combination of factors. Firstly, because it makes use of an existing service to Cologne with a longer transit time, but also because the containers must be reloaded when crossing the Spanish border, as rails in Spain have a different width than those of the European network. This wider track is a legacy of the Franco era, but Spain is currently investing heavily in new rails with the same width as in the rest of Europe. In a few years, Cool Rail trains will probably not have to be reloaded when travelling to North West Europe.
Reliable
"So far, trains have proven to be highly reliable," said Fred Lessing, who is closely involved in Cool Rail on behalf of Euro Pool System. "The chance of a train arriving late is much smaller than that of a truck arriving late. Only the impact of arriving late is greater in the case of the train, because it affects multiple containers at the same time." As soon as the reloading at the border becomes a thing of the past and the ideal rail route is available, Cool Rail will be more efficient than trucks.
Fresher products
With Cool Rail it is also possible to have information, reliability and product quality reports. The temperature and humidity in the cooling units can be monitored remotely, and if necessary, adjustments can be made by the operator. Thus, in the long run, this new train connection will be quicker than road transport, thus allowing for the supply of fresher and better quality products.
Source: Agroberichten Buitenland