AGVs over rail
Description
Rail AGVs, exploit the advantages rail and avoid the disadvantages train
P2P Container transport by rail, as an alternative to road transport and complementary to inland shipping.
From the port of Rotterdam, more than 11 million TEU of containers are imported and exported annually to destinations inside and outside the Netherlands. And that should double. The good connection by water, which reaches deep into the European Union, is not sufficient everywhere to meet the current transhipment demand already.
More point-to-point (P2P) container transport by road is not a solution either: it is environmentally harmful, ineffective and creates extra congestion in the Rotterdam region, further clogging up transit to the hinterland.
The alternative, transport over the extensive and mostly finely-meshed European rail network stagnates due to rigid scheduling, the need for frequent handling, such as shunting, waiting with in-between storage and transhipment.
With the commissioning of the second Maasvlakte, the problem of road transport becomes even more acute.
The solution: better use of the rail network by deploying Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) on the tracks, starting on the Betuwe line as a dedicated freight line.
AGVs are not new. They are already deployed as Metro and "people movers". In Factories, one often sees browse trolleys. At the ECT terminals, VDL AGVs are already operating. On the road, AGVs seem to be on the rise: test versions of the Google Car are already driving around in the three US states.
The Netherlands is also experimenting within the Smart Mobility programme.
The envisaged AGVs on rail is nothing more than a separate, automatically driving flat wagon with its own traction. The individual control will eventually allow every container unloaded in Rotterdam and placed on a wagon, to find its own way to its destination. Identical to baggage handling systems at airports. With AGVs, time-consuming assembling of container trains will become superfluous and the transit time from port to destination and vice versa will be significantly reduced.
By 2050, it cannot be otherwise than that every vehicle on the railways will be manlessly controlled.
However, first a paradigm shift is required. After that, there will be many (emotional and technical) hurdles to overcome. An EU-scale AGV deployment seems inevitable. As a start, we need to start small and start where the problem is greatest: Rotterdam with its congested direct hinterland for container transhipment.
Deploying AGVs on the railways in the Botlek and on the Betuwe line seems an attractive solution to traffic congestion and increases the profitability of this beautiful piece of infrastructure.
In order to work out this AGV concept, a pre-development study was launched on 1 September 2013 within the framework of the MIT scheme Top Sector Logistics
The aim of this study is to create support among all parties involved and arrive at functional target specifications for both the rail infrastructure and the AGVs themselves. For example, the study will clarify the requirements for the control of switch systems, how to take into account interference and synchronisation with other rail users, integration within the Rail Safety System and the various supply voltages. It will also examine which pilots can be set up where and with which partners, so that the applicability of the concept can be demonstrated on a small scale.
19.00 Walk-in with coffee
19.30 Outline project presentation
19.45 The added value of the rail AGV in container transport
20.00 A business case, the cost-benefit analysis
20.20.00 The exploration of the specifications of
a. the vehicle
b. the rail infrastructure
c. the central traffic control
21.00 Roadmap to realisation, the Pilot options, the Go's and the no Go's
21.30 Questions and closing with drinks; at the drinks, a presentation of a working demo scale model
Location
TU/e, Auditorium room 11, Den Dolech 2
5612 AZ Eindhoven
Organiser
Business Administration
Rail Systems
Name and contact details for information
ir. P.H. (Paul) van Bers, t: 06 10766266