The deliveries of railcars are many and fragmented. This dramatically increases costs and has a negative impact on the environment.

Significant efficiency and sustainability gains can be achieved by better coordinating railcar deliveries and collections and by bundling the delivery and collection within the port area. As such, longer trains can be used instead of many short trains.

Nils van Vliet, CEO Railport: Although this was not an easy exercise, we are extremely happy with the result and with the huge support and backing from the industry and freight payers.  Without their support we would not have succeeded.  The project shows that together we can effectively change things by joining forces.  Moreover, the project does not stop here.  Railport will continue to monitor quality, organise area meetings to increase efficiency and take the necessary initiatives to accelerate the digitalisation exercise that has already started. We look to the future with hope.

In order to achieve this, Railport has divided the port into zones based on consolidated volumes and operational optimisation. On that basis, Railport has organised a tender for the first and last mile in each zone. It received a mandate for this from freight payers in these zones.

In doing so, Railport is aiming to make first-mile and last-mile traffic more accessible to both rail operators and freight payers. The model counters fragmentation and increases transparency as to their own goods.

After evaluating the bids received, the results of the tendering are known:

• Area 1 – Kanaaldokken: Lineas
• Area 2 – Buitenschoor: Lineas
• Area 3 – Bevrijdingsdok: Railtraxx
• Area 4 – Oorderen : DB Cargo
• Area 5 – Old Port: individual solution tailored to each freight payer
• Area 6 – Oosterweel: Lineas
• Area 7 – Deep sea: Railtraxx
• Area 8 – WLH: Railtraxx
• Area 9 – Zwijndrecht: Railtraxx

The participating freight payers can now enter into a first and last mile agreement with the selected railway operators.

The selected operators will offer their services in a neutral manner, to all interested parties. This means that even freight payers who had not (yet) submitted their volume in the tendering process can still join the project and make use of the services offered.

This regulation will take effect on 1 January 2024.