Rolling highway

The Rolling Road (short rolling road ) is a transport system for accompanied combined transport by rail or a special train may be transported in the complete trucks or tractor-trailers by rail. The close-coupled low-floor vehicles used for this purpose with small wheel diameters ( 380/360/335 mm) have consistently over the whole train away running lanes. The drivers are housed while driving in addition appended Caboose ( seat or couchette ). Are located at the endpoints of the compounds special ramps to the truck easy to load and unload. In Switzerland, at times the abbreviation RA was used for rolling highway instead of rolling road. In North America, India and the abbreviation for RORO Roll On - Roll Off is.

Transport services

Most are transit lines, eg of Bavaria Tyrol to Italy or Eastern Europe, operated by the rolling road. For Austria as a traditional transit country, is " rolling road " for environmental reasons. 1999 of the ÖBB 254,000 trucks or road trains - equivalent to about 8.5 million tons of cargo - promoted (1993 there were 158 989 units). In 2007, promoted by the RCA AG with 19,073 trains 288 776 units.

Between Salzburg and the port of Trieste, where the trucks arrive by ferry from Turkey, operates a " rolling road " directly. The drivers come in this case, only by plane via the airport Ljubljana to take over the truck. In Switzerland Rolling Road trains on both the Gotthard, as well as via the Lötschberg -Simplon axis.

The most important parameter of routes for trucking is the corner height, which is the amount that is allowed to use a loaded truck, so as not to exceed the loading gauge of the track. For existing routes today to Eckhöhen arise after the existing gauge - often 3.85m - new lines as that of the projected New Railway Link through the Alps strive for a corner height of 4 m, which allows the EU for trucks.

To September 25, 1994 reversed the first rolling road train between Dresden -Friedrichstadt and Lovosice in the Czech Republic. The 115 km were mastered in 185 minutes ( between final charge and discharge). The Free State of Saxony funded the pilot project by the end of 1995, nearly ten million euros. With the later retracted grants, the attractiveness of the offer declined. On 11 June 2003, the 750,000 was. Transported trucks. 2003 up to twelve pairs of trains were here offered daily with a capacity of 23 parking spaces. With an occupancy rate of 70 to 80 percent the offer required operating grants of around 7.5 million euros per year; 2003, there were 6.5 million euros the opposite on fare revenue. After the load had dropped to less than ten percent of the EU accession of the Czech Republic, it was decided to close the Offer on 18 May 2004.

In India, a rolling road is Kolad - Surathkal operated on the Konkanstrecke in relations Kolad - Verna (since 1999 ) (since 2004) and Ankola - Surathkal. This truck can run parallel to the route to avoid National Highway 17. This street is in the foothills of the Western Ghats very curvy and steep.

Operator

In Austria, the Rolling Road is operated by Ökombi GmbH, a subsidiary of Rail Cargo Austria AG ( ÖBB freight ). There are daily up to 80 trains with a total of 1,600 spaces innerösterreichisch and from Austria to Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary. Also a transit rolling road runs through the burner from the Italian Trento to Regensburg in Germany. In 2011, approximately 320,000 trucks were about 80 million kilometers transported. Since 8 December 2012, the Transit Rolling Road Trent is - Regensburg to the off by the previous operator Ökombi by bayernhafen operated in cooperation with the terminal operator in Trento, Interbrennero Trenitalia, the company Trasposervizi and the private German railway company locomotion.

The rolling road is operated in transalpine traffic through Switzerland from the RAlpin AG in Olten. In 2010, 102'720 truck were transported through the Alps.

Development

The idea of ​​creating a kind of " rolling road " was built before the first proper railway in Germany. Already in 1828 struck a committee that advanced the construction of a horse-drawn railway from the Saline Bad Duerrenberg to Leipzig, prior to manufacture special railway wagons on which then the horse-drawn carriages should be transported. However, the idea had several defects and did not prove economical. Nevertheless, fell back again and again to this approach due to transport bottlenecks. The first rolling road crossed the Switzerland finally 1968. During the transfer policy, the existing Alpine railway lines were then expanded further, so that as of 2001 improved Rola could be put into operation. Henceforth truck with a corner height of up to 4 meters, a width of up to 2.5 meters and a weight of up to 44 tons could be transported. With the rolling road and other measures, Switzerland was able to shift a considerable part of transalpine freight traffic to rail or keep on the track.

Assessment

The advantages of the " Rolling Road " are both economic and ecological nature: The freight forwarder saves fuel, tolls, time losses due to congestion and operating kilometers in its vehicles, and the drivers can comply with the statutory rest periods, without having to interrupt the transport. Often also have limitations, such as night or weekend driving restrictions during pre-and post not be observed.

In Switzerland there is a constitutional mandate (Alpine Initiative) and a law ( freight Transfer Act, GVVG ) relocate the transit traffic through the Alps from road to rail. This goal should be achieved with the completion of NEAT and with support measures in favor of rail freight, including the rolling road, supported.