Kombiverkehr Ships More Freight Than Expected
At 855,553 consignments, equivalent to 1.711 million TEU, Frankfurt-based Kombiverkehr shipped more freight than expected in 2009. "The 16% decline in consignment numbers is painful," admitted Robert Breuhahn, general manager of the company that provides the biggest European network for shifting goods transport from road to rail. "But the fall in transport volumes is above all a reflection of the problems in key industries such as the motor industry, chemicals and steel." Given the global financial and economic crisis, the company had at the beginning of 2009 anticipated a decline of up to 20% for the current financial year. The better than expected performance was driven primarily by the slight recovery seen in the second half of the year. "We have been sensing a pickup in demand on some routes - both nationally and internationally - since autumn, and in the last quarter some routes even turned in better figures than in the previous year. In fact, in our future markets we have actually recorded strong growth over the year as a whole. 2010 could see slight growth in total shipping volumes if the rail companies continue to tailor their prices and services to the market", Breuhahn said confidently.
Last year most train operators kept their prices at reasonable levels while at the same time delivering tangible improvements in punctuality. "The latter is also due in no small part to constant process optimisation." This is what makes Breuhahn confident that transport companies and forwarders will enjoy the high planning confidence and reliability in 2010 that Combined Transport gave them in 2009. "For many of our customers these are the key criteria that encourage them to opt for us", Breuhahn added. In the continued expansion of its network Kombiverkehr is thus making sure first and foremost that rising demand does not result in bottlenecks at heavily congested nodes, e.g. by introducing new direct trains. An example of this is the Adriatic Express, which from February will run five times a week between Duisburg, Cologne and Munich and Ljubljana, relieving the Munich-Riem terminal.
Breuhahn cites as one of the two areas of potential growth in 2010 the expansion of the key markets for Kombiverkehr, such as Turkey and the Netherlands, which performed extremely well even in a difficult 2009. Not only was the company able to more than double the volume shipped on services to and from Istanbul, for instance, it also managed to achieve success in acquiring new customers at the Turkish end. The tripling of departures between Ljubljana and Halkali from February has paved the way for further growth in services to and from Turkey. The volume of freight transported to and from Rotterdam exceeded the figure for the previous year by more than 30%. This can be traced back in part to the expansion in the frequency of services in maritime and continental transport, the linking of the new Euromax terminal to Maasvlakte and the high quality of service. The other area of potential growth in volume is the company's entry into new segments of the market such as temperature-controlled transport. "Two years ago we played a part in bringing refrigerated trailers onto rail, allowing temperature-sensitive products to be carried in Combined Transport. These efforts are now paying off more and more through strong growth in volumes in this segment."
"In 2010 Combined Transport will also benefit not least from the fact that the ecological aspects of transport become increasingly important at times of rising transport volumes", Breuhahn went on. "With about two thirds less carbon dioxide emissions than pure road transport, Combined Transport is by far the more environmentally friendly alternative for freight traffic." Kombiverkehr's customers can see exactly how much is saved for each train by accessing the Timetable information at www.kombiverkehr.com. "The facility we give transport companies and forwarders to rapidly calculate their transport-related pollution enables them to demonstrate not only the economic but also the ecological benefits of Kombiverkehr to their customers", said Breuhahn of the services offered for calculating CO2 emissions.
