editorial Swiss success factor solutions for intermodal logistics www.hupac.ch December 2006 Ah, the Swiss. Up there in the mountains, specialising in trans- port. Whether on ancient paths, mule tracks, mountain passes Forwards on the North-South Magistrale or Alpine tunnels – for centuries the markets north and south of the Alps have been connected As the major combi operator in Alpine transit, Hupac participated in the Swiss-Italian business by Swiss carriers. Some of conference “The Meeting” on 26-27 October 2006 in Genoa. Hupac Director Bernhard Kunz reviewed the oldest logistics enterprises developments in container traffic in Europe and the opportunities in the Rotterdam-Genoa corridor. have their roots in Switzerland: Danzas, Panalpina, Hangartner, Dreier – and for good measure On 26-27 October, Gottfried Schenker, founder the Italian seaport of of Schenker AG, was a native Genoa hosted “The Swiss from Däniken, near Olten. Meeting”, a business What are the success factors conference at minister- of a business that even today is ial level, at which Swit- among the major employers in zerland and Italy aimed Switzerland? Switzerland has long at expanding their econ- provided an efficient infrastruc- omic links. Particular ture for transit traffic. Yesterday attention was paid to it was the Devil’s Bridge at St. the transport sector. Gotthard Pass, tomorrow there The opening of the will be the NEAT railway tunnels. Bernhard Kunz Swiss transport enterprises Director of new rail transversal at Hupac Group Lötschberg next year are innovative and ready to try will bring Genoa and its out unconventional ways. Last harbour closer to Switzerland and but not least, Swiss carriers Northern Europe. have a particular allergy against monopolies and state interfer- Reminder of the NEAT connection ences, focussing instead on com- The increasing trade flows need the petition, neutrality and service proper infrastructure, argued the excellence. Swiss Minister of Trade and Com- merce, Doris Leuthard. With NEAT, Indeed, Hupac is proud to follow Switzerland was making a significant The Antwerp and Rotterdam the expansion of the hinterland rail better international connections to the traditions of Swiss transport. contribution to a new European harbours are connected by daily connections, in order to reduce Genoa. The goal of good utilisation transverse rail route between the Hupac trains with the large busi- the load on roads in the harbour or greater train frequency could We hope you will enjoy reading North Sea and the Mediterranean. ness areas in Central Europe and areas.” however not yet be attained. If this new edition of Moving. She called on Italy to sort out con- North Italy. In 2005, Hupac trans- The Rotterdam-Genoa corridor interest is shown by the Liguria nections to the south of the new ported 158,000 shipments from/to provides a great opportunity for Region, by the harbour and the Irmtraut Tonndorf stretches via Lötschberg/Simplon Rotterdam, 98,000 shipments European goods traffic. Hupac has terminal operator, Hupac would be Communications Manager and Gotthard. from/to Antwerp, 13,000 ship- invested heavily in order to provide ready to invest further. Emma Bonino, Minister for European ments from/to Hamburg, but only Affairs, explained Italy’s tardiness, 1,000 from/to Genoa with transal- saying that the country had now pine destinations. woken up after a “long siesta”. Cur- Hupac calls for continuity rently several infrastructure projects Is the Genoa harbour missing Within the framework of the new the Swiss people. “Europe’s freight considers the pushing forward of the worth billions were underway. Fol- out on the connection? Swiss Act for modal shift in freight transport business is currently in the railway liberalisation as well as the lowing the high speed stretches in “It is high time that Genoa positions transport, Hupac has cal led for the process of adjusting to combined reform on train path rates and the the Po valley, North-South connec- itself better for traffic north of the continued consistent implemen- transport,” points out Hupac Director promotion of European interoper- tions would now be expanded. Alps”, emphasised Mr Kunz. ”The tation of the current well-estab- Bernhard Kunz and goes on to add ability, to be far more important than competition is growing. Even now, lished shift policy in accordance that, “halving the subsidies as it is the introduction of the recommended Hinterland traffic – added value several players are considering the with variant 1. Hupac is clearly recommended in variant 2 of the re- Alpine transit exchange. Flanking for customers harbour at Constanza in Rumania in favour of a continued focus on port, would be sending the entirely measures such as the timely provi- Hupac Director Bernhard Kunz as an alternative to the northern unaccompanied combi ned trans- wrong message. In order for rail sion of the feeder routes from the stressed the demands of interna- harbours.” port even after the end of the in- transport to be able to compete with north and south to the Gotthard Base tional transport enterprises. Con- In 2002, Hupac connected Genoa itially intended period for finan- road transport until the flat rail route Tunnel, the funding of terminals in tainer traffic was expanding faster harbour to the Busto Arsizio-Galla- cial encouragement up to 2010. through the Got thard Tunnel is put busy regions abroad and the intensi- than Continental traffic. Harbours in rate hub. It is the largest inland ter- In view of the successes of the meas- into operation in approximately ten fication of controls for heavy trans- Benelux and Germany were show- minal in Europe, with more than 40 ures to shift the transalpine transport years, the railways will continue to re- ports are of essential significance. ing large volume increases. On the trains daily to Central, Western and through Switzerland from the roads quire the same level of current subsi- Hupac rejects the substantial expan- other hand, Genoa harbour was Eastern Europe. From an initial five to the railways – a 14 percent reduc- dies. This is the only way that we will sion of the Rolling Highway through lagging behind. One of the reasons trains a week from Genoa, Hupac tion in heavy goods vehicles crossing be able to succeed in achieving the Switzerland, as envisaged under was the less than optimal hinter- has reduced the frequency to two the Alps through Switzerland since ambitious shift target that we have the variant 3 of the act: “The Rolling land traffic network. Anyone with a trains a week for lack of volume. the year 2000 and a concurrent 50 laid down in the constitution.” Highway is and shall remain a supple- good offering for the distribution of This is in contrast to Northern percent increase in the use of com- Hupac is sceptical of the Alpine tran- mentary offer,” emphasizes Bernhard containers in the hinterland would Europe, where volume increases bi ned transport – a reduction of the sit exchange that is a part of all three Kunz. “The limited track capacities produce added value for the ship- of more than 30% have been seen subsidies would jeopardize the results variants. This measure requires the would be used for a system which, in ping companies, the haulage and on the West-East corridor. “The to date and stand in the way of the renegotiation of the overland trans- comparison to unaccompanied com- logistics companies. harbours in the North are urging long-term development favoured by port agreement with the EU. Hupac bined transport, requires subsidies that are three times as high and is Ports in the Hupac Shuttle Net four times as expensive to maintain Number of shipments 2005 New Swiss freight transport Act 2011-2017 158,000 when it comes to the rolling stock. Hamburg/Bremen Rotterdam 3 variants Furthermore, the environmental bene- Antwerp fit of the shift hardly makes sense Status quo: maintenance of the modal shift aim of 650.000 truck with regard to the short distances 98,000 trips per year between the Swiss borders.” ? Halving the subsidies: increase of the transit trips to 1 million truck Hupac’s detailed policy statement on Constanta trips per year the Swiss freight transport Act 2011- Genova 2017 can be found on the Internet 13,000 1,000 Focus on the traffic technique “Rolling Highway” under: www.hupac.ch/Index_freight_ RotterdamAntwerpHamburg Genova transport_act.htm Questions & Answers Mr Howald, train growth in traffic is punctuality is not affecting the qual- yet what it ought ity statistics. But we to be. Why not? know that economy That’s true, even if depends on goods quality has improved transport, and we steadily in recent feel an obligation to years, above all handle all the trans- since the introduc- port demanded. Road tion of responsibility traffic and inland for international end- navigation are also to-end traction. But at the limits of their Peter Howald in recent months Director capacity. With a wider there have been a Intermodal Services range of offerings, number of bottle- Hupac Group increased frequency necks. There is cur- and special trains, we rently enormous and unforeseen are working hard to ensure that growth in intermodal traffic. our customers can reliably ser- Many terminals are working at vice the growing economy. their performance limits. Loco- motives and drivers are in short Where can you see further supply. There are also bottle- scope for action? necks in railway wagons. Hupac Quality improvements are a has always invested in its own continuous process at all levels. wagons, and this has paid off. What is needed is ideas, initiat- It makes us independent, and ives, as well as the necessary enables us to react flexibly to investment framework for periodic peaks, as at present.